Posted: 8/8/03
Whites paid to go to church
By Hannah Lodwick
Associated Baptist Press
SHREVEPORT, La. (ABP)–Looking to make some extra spending money? A pastor in Shreveport, La., is offering white people money to attend services at his mostly black 4,000-member church.
Fred Caldwell, the pastor, says he grew tired of looking down from the pulpit and seeing only black faces in his congregation. “Our churches are too segregated, and the Lord never intended for that to happen,” Caldwell told the Shreveport Times. “It's time for something radical.”
Caldwell said the idea for diversifying Greenwood Acres Full Gospel Baptist Church came to him during a sermon. He is paying whites $5 an hour for Sunday services and $10 an hour on Thursdays. The plan started Aug. 3, and 10 white people–some glad for the money, some glad for the invitation–showed up for the Sunday morning service.
While some critics say the worship-for-wages plan amounts to bribery, Caldwell said he just wants the kingdom of God on earth to look like it will in heaven.
Caldwell used the parable of the vineyard workers in Matthew 20 as a biblical context for his program. In the parable, no matter what time of the day the owner of the vineyard hired workers, he paid them all the same amount.
“This isn't just a good idea,” Caldwell said. “This is a God idea. I ain't got no better sense than to obey God.”
To get their money, white visitors must register before the service, and Caldwell pays them out of his pocket. His offer lasts through the end of August.
Members of the Greenwood Acres church have met Caldwell's challenge with enthusiasm. Torie Jenkins has attended the church all of her 21 years. She told Associated Baptist Press she has enjoyed Caldwell's decision to invite whites to their church.
“It has been very interesting,” Jenkins said. “We just love them, and we open our arms to them.”
Jenkins said she doesn't know if the white visitors will continue attending Greenwood Acres after the payments stop, but she hopes they will. “I'll look and see what God's going to do,” she said.
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