March 3, 1999
Arkansas church thriving
despite Clinton controversy
___By Lynn Clayton
___Louisiana Baptist Message
___ALEXANDRIA, La. (ABP) --When Rex Horne visited Little Rock, Ark., in view of a call as pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church nine years ago, two members of the search committee took him to the governor's mansion to meet the congregation's most famous member.
___When the threeguests arose to leave, then-Gov. Bill Clinton told Horne, "I hope I never do anything to make things difficult for you."
REX HORNE and President Bill Clinton visit after a service at Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock, Ark.
___Horne could not have imagined how much his decision to accept the pastorate would change his life. Or what would be involved in being pastor to the most powerful man in the world and one of the nation's most controversial leaders.
___Horne acknowledges Clinton has been a controversial president, perhaps the most controversial in recent history. "People seem to really like him or really despise him," he said in an interview.
___That controversy has at times been projected onto Immanuel Baptist Church and its pastor as Clinton's views on subjects such as abortion and homosexuals put him at odds with many political and religious conservatives, including many within the Southern Baptist Convention. Those feelings have intensified during the last year with disclosure of the president's involvement with Monica Lewinsky.
___At every annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention since he has been president, resolutions have been proposed calling upon Immanuel to publicly rebuke or discipline Clinton. Other failed efforts would have called on the convention to withdraw fellowship from Immanuel unless the congregation ousts Clinton as a member.
___Demonstrators frequently picket the church, carrying placards with all kinds of messages condemning Clinton, Horne and the church.
___Horne recently was in Alexandria, La., to lead a winter Bible study at Parkview Baptist Church, where his cousin, Tim Everett, is pastor. During the visit, he told the Baptist Message newspaper the experience has been trying yet also a time of growth both for him and the church.
___"Our fellowship has remained strong," Horne said. He noted the church has lost somewhere between a dozen and 20 members because of Clinton. "Some churches lose more members than that over painting a Sunday school classroom," he said.
___Clinton had been a member of the church for 10 years when Horne became pastor in 1990. Horne followed Brian Harbour, who served five years after succeeding W.O. Vaught, a well-known conservative who retired in 1983 after 38 years in Immanuel's pulpit. Horne had been at the church only a year when Clinton announced he would run for president.
___"So, from that point on, he was not in church as much," Horne related. "And, of course, after he was elected president, he moved to Washington, and we seldom see him. So, most of my pastoring of President Clinton has been a long-distance effort."
___Horne said there are no changes in the service when the Secret Service calls to say Clinton will attend worship. "I read in a book about all the anticipation and excitement and change of a church when they discovered President Bush was coming to their worship," Horne said. "They even played 'Hail to the Chief' when he walked in. Immanuel's attitude is, 'If he comes to church, he comes to church.' We don't make any changes, and we don't make any fuss."
___Horne said he usually talks with the president once a week. That practice began when Horne and his wife traveled to Washington for Clinton's first inauguration. While there, Horne asked Hillary Clinton, a Methodist, "Is there anything we can do?"
___"She suggested that I call President Clinton every week and gave me his private number," Horne said. "The first time I called, the people there got me through, so it was obvious that Mrs. Clinton was serious and had spread the word to get me through to the president."
___Horne said there are no limits on what they discuss. "I try to encourage him where I can and even challenge him when I think I should."
___Horne said Immanuel's members are like the rest of society in their attitude toward Clinton. "Some like him; some don't."
___But the church has committed to pray for the president every Sunday. "We told him we would pray for him every Sunday, and we have done that," Horne said. "We also pray for our governor and legislators and mayor--our government leaders. We follow the biblical injunction at this point."
___Horne said the church would continue to pray for Clinton's successor. "For any president, there is such a great weight placed upon him," he said. "They know things they cannot tell anybody--so many national secrets, so many crises. That is one reason you see presidents aging so much during their terms. They all need our prayers."
___Despite suggestions from SBC leaders and others outside the congregation, Horne said there never has been any serious talk within the church about disciplining Clinton or dismissing him as a member.
___"People outside the church have no idea what we have done or haven't done in relationship to Bill Clinton," Horne said. "After the Monica Lewinsky thing broke, he wrote a handwritten letter to the church asking the church's forgiveness."
___"I guess I am a literalist with the Scripture that says if we do not forgive our fellow man, then God will not forgive us," Horne said. "We have focused on forgiveness and redemption. The Bible says that we are to forgive 70 times seven, as long as a person wants to be forgiven and asks for forgiveness. Our focus is upon the spiritual and not the political or government aspects."
___One misconception the public has about Immanuel Baptist Church is "because the president thinks one way, we must think that way, because he is part of us," Horne said. "That is not true. We can accept the president as a fellow member and disagree with him, as I do on some issues."
___Asked for an example of an issue on which he and the president disagree, Horne responded: "Abortion. On some of his orders about homosexuals, such as in the military. And, concerning the Monica Lewinsky thing, I think it is an abomination."
___"Our church sincerely seeks to do the right thing, in the right way," Horne said.
___"I have never been an apologist for the president. I have just tried to be his pastor, and for the most part, it has been long distance."
___Horne said his greatest disappointment with his pastoral relationship to the president has been the effect that some people's "awful" actions have had on his family.
___"We have to have an unlisted number," he said. "People, many of whom identified themselves as Christians, were calling--and when my children would answer, the callers would begin to tell them things like, 'Your daddy has been responsible for so many deaths today through abortion, because he is Bill Clinton's pastor.'"
___Still, Horne said he has determined he will not let such episodes make him bitter.
___"What others say, they are responsible for. What I say, I am responsible for. We all need to be careful about our rhetoric."
___Horne said Immanuel continues to be strongly supportive of the Southern Baptist Convention. "We are number seven in Cooperative Program gifts in the entire Southern Baptist Convention. And the church has done this while it has been taking some pretty heavy hits from some of the convention's leadership."
___The Arkansas Baptist State Convention has elected the 45-year-old Horne as president twice during Clinton's presidency.
___"I try to remember we are God's ambassadors," he said. "The church as a whole has been very redemptive and committed to its mission. We have been very careful not to get intoxicated by the rarified air of being in the spotlight and searchlight."
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