MAIDEN, N.C. — Hundreds of people are demanding a pastor at a Baptist church in Catawba County step down over comments he made from the pulpit about gay people.
For the first time since video of his angry sermon spread around the globe and was seen more than 600,000 times through YouTube, his congregation met.
On Wednesday night, members of his congregation were still in support of Worley, but they declined to comment on the night’s sermon.
The video shows pastor Charles Worley making clear his views on homosexuality and on Amendment One.
“The Bible (is) against it. I’m against it. And if you’ve got any sense, you’re against it,” he yelled from the pulpit on Mother’s Day.
He went on to suggest caging gay people behind an electric fence and allowing them to “die off.”
Thousands of people have come out on both sides of the debate.
Some people, including Laura Tipton, are asking the Worley to step down from his post at Providence Road Baptist Church.
“(It’s) the most disgusting, the most vile of hate speech I’ve heard so far,” she said.
Tipton has organized a rally against Worley on Sunday. Other groups have started online petitions to get him removed.
“His response to me was that it was a poor choice of words, but he has never apologized or recanted his statements,” Tipton said.
So far, about 200 people have signed the online petition asking Worley to step down.
Organizers said 2,000 people are expected at Sunday’s protest outside the courthouse in Newton. Deputies said the people do not have permission to rally there.
WSOC
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