Pastor bans 103-year-old Georgia woman from her lifelong church

By Kellan Howell - The Washington Times - Wednesday, September 16, 2015

A 103-year-old Georgia woman was kicked out of her lifelong church following a disagreement with her pastor over his preaching style.

Genora Ham Biggs said she and the current pastor of Union Grove Baptist Church in Elberton, the Rev. Tim Mattox, have disagreed in the past over his preaching style, which she considers a “Holiness style,” but recently Mr. Mattox took action against Ms. Biggs, barring her from attending Sunday service.

“At one point, he had a crew in here, and they were hollering and falling out in the middle of the floor. We don’t do that in the Baptist Church,” Ms. Biggs said, Fox 5 News reported.

Then in early August, Ms. Biggs received a letter from Mr. Mattox stating that she could no longer attend church there “for any reason whatsoever” and that her 92-year membership had been revoked.

“This letter is to inform you that according to the By-Laws of the Union Grove Baptist Church, and by vote of the active members, any membership or associations that you have had with this church are now officially revoked,” the letter read, Fox reported.

She said the police were called on her when she attended the church this past Sunday. Police said there was nothing they could do as this was a civil dispute between Ms. Biggs and the church.

The dispute has caused a rift in the congregation.

Ezell Land, another member of the church who has been attending for 50 years, said he left the church over the issue. He said about 20 other members of the congregation have also left over the past year because of the pastor’s controversial preaching style.

“You can’t do that to somebody. She has been part of this church her whole life. She was even the church secretary for 40 years. That’s just not good pastoring to do that,” Mr. Land said, Fox reported.