Well, no, but the truth is messy, nonetheless

Last Saturday the story was just breaking while I was attending BlogNashville that a church in East Waynesville, NC, had expelled some of its members for not supporting President Bush. At the time we were told the church had required the departure of all its Democrat members.

Well, not so fast. There was (and is) and politically-painted controversy involving the East Waynesville Baptist Church, but figuring out what happened is like untangling spaghetti. Here’s a digest of what I have read happened.

It seems the kerfuffle started when the church’s pastor, the Rev. Chan Chandler, stated repeatedly in sermons beginning last fall that the church’s members should support the reelection of President Bush. Chandler had been receiving considerable heat from members - including self-described Republicans - about the politicization of the worship hour:

“He’s been told over and over he could not preach politics from the pulpit,” said Thelma Morris, a lon-time member of the church. “I don’t want it to be a political church. That would be sad.”

Morris said Chandler’s references in support of George Bush started in October but didn’t stop after the election. She recalls one time a woman stood up during the sermon and told him to stop it.

Things came to a head May 2, a Monday, at a deacons meeting. During the meeting, Chandler said that anyone who didn’t support him (not Bush, Chandler) should leave. Nine members did. They say that,

… after they left, Chandler called their names one by one and took a vote on whether to remove them from the church. …

The ousted members claim the meeting was a set-up, stacked with Chandler’s supporters, many who are younger, new members Chandler recruited since becoming the pastor. …

“He’s made the statement, several times, that you should support Bush. I supported President Bush, but I do not support the preacher’s actions,” said David Richardson, a member of the church for three years.

But Chandler started backpedaling right away, it seems. All nine of the apparently-ousted members returned to the May 8 worship service, which,

… “was the first sermon I’ve heard since October that politics wasn’t mentioned,” said Edith Nichols, a 29-year member of East Waynesville who said she was voted out.

In a written statement released by Chandler’s lawyer, John J. Pavey Jr., the pastor stated, “This church fellowships openly with all who embrace the authority and application of the Bible regardless of political affiliation, including current members who align themselves with both major political parties, as well as those who affiliate with no political party.”

The statement goes on to claim that no one has been voted from the membership of the church because of political beliefs.

“No one has been voted out of this church for politics or any other reason at this point,” Pavey said, in contradiction to the nine members’ belief they have been removed from the church rolls.

The Ousted-or-Not-Nine retained a lawyer to “determine their course of action.” But in Sunday’s service, Rev. Chandler,

… announced from the pulpit Sunday morning that there would be another business meeting Tuesday for church members, including everyone who attended Monday’s meeting.

Stand by for drama. At yesterday’s meeting,

Pastor Chan Chandler submitted his resignation to the members of East Waynesville Baptist Church on Tuesday, a move some said was the only way to resolve current tensions at the church.

At a meeting at the church, Chandler got up and led those in attendance in prayer, read his resignation and then left the meeting with his wife, Melody, without making any comments to the assembled media, a church member said.

“Rev. Chan Chandler has resigned as pastor of East Waynesville Baptist Church,” Chandler’s lawyer, John Pavey, said following the pastor’s departure. “He feels like in light of everything that has taken place, instead of continuing to fight with the various factions, he feels it’s in the best interest of everyone concerned that he resign.”

A follow-up story explores whether churches risk having the IRS-granted tax exemption yanked for the kind of politicism Rev. Chandler is agreed by all parties to have displayed. At the faith-based blogging session Saturday, where North Carolinian Ed Cone brought this church controversy up, we understood at the time that the church had booted out all its Democrats. Now we know better, but at the time, in something of a shocked snit, I blurted that the church should have its tax exemption revoked. Well, not really; I should have remembered that I have blogged about the exemption issue before. First, though, a Methodist quote for a story in which the Baptists have been having all the fun:

“There is an understanding in the church in America that because you are granted a tax-exempt status by the government, then you therefore don’t display a partisan perspective,” said George Freeman, general secretary of the World Methodist Council at Lake Junaluska. “That is something I assume would be understood by all persons of religious authority. If you take a partisan standpoint you are jeopardizing that non-profit status.”

With all respect to my fellow Methodist, I demur. I have explored this issue at length and wrote about at length, too. The issue with the IRS isn’t speech but money.

After US Marine technical experts raised doubts about the quality of several thousand ballistic-protection vests issued to the force, the Corps ordered them recalled.

The Marine Corps is recalling more than 5,000 combat vests issued to troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and Djibouti after a published report raised concerns that the vests failed a test to determine whether they could stop a bullet.

The Marines said in a statement they are recalling the 5,277 vests to alleviate any doubts caused by a Marine Corps Times article published Monday, but service officials insisted they do not believe the vests are faulty.

A company spokesman for Point Blank Body Armor of Pompano Beach, Fla., which makes the vests, told NBC News, “We stand by our product. … We do not know of any casualties or injuries related to the vest.”

Some of vests of the production lots concerned failed some tests, were retested and passed and then,

Marine officials issued waivers allowing the vests to go to the troops, but decided to recall the vests from the field when they learned of the imminent article.

Eric Scheie has redesigned the Confederate flag “because bigotry comes in all shades.” Bill Hobbs also has some words.

This is the plane that caused the US Capitol and the White House to be evacuated just after noon EDT today.

This Cessna aircraft left Pennsylvania this morning and twice penetrated prohibited airspace over Washington, D.C., causing a high-level security alert and the evacuations. Capitol Hill police ran through the hallways calling for people to leave immediately, telling them to run.

The Department of Defense scrambled at least two F-16 fighters which flew over the city for almost a half hour. The Cessna’s pilot, not yet named, has been taken into custody and is being interrogated now. It flew to within four miles of the White House, according to news reports.

The plane was escorted to the ground at Frederick, Md., by a UH-60 helicopter from the Borders and Customs Service, according to the White House; the plane’s pilot did not respond to repeated attempts to contact him.

The entire alert lasted less than an hour. The White House called all clear for its personnel 10-15 minutes before the Capitol Police did for Capitol Hill.