Last Time: Pastor Cyrus Payton called out a church member about her spreading rumors before I asked for the Deacon Board to explain the “issues” damaging the church.
December 4th, 2010
Seemingly, my words about putting everything out in the open got to Deacon Dewey Holly before he said, “You know what? If you all want to open the door, well lets just let everyone in.”
After throwing his written agenda down, Dcn. Holly said one of the biggest issues in the church was Mrs. Cyrus Payton running up and down the aisle during sermons and giving her own mini-sermons about how we should work together and why the young women should dress with dignity.
Sister Lily Walker disagreed with Dcn. Holly about his thoughts on Mrs. Payton.
Dcn. Holly somewhat backtracked on his feelings by stating, “I never said she shouldn’t stop. I think that’s Pastor Payton’s job to stop her.”
Someone noted that a nearby church also had a lot of people running the aisles just like Mrs. Payton, “…and no one condemns them.”
Dcn. Holly replied with a smirk on his face, “(That church) has problems of its own.”
Dcn. Calhoun’s daughter also liked Mrs. Payton’s speeches. Sister Teresa Watley stood up to echo my sentiments about trying to get some solutions before this meeting becomes just like the last one. Taking a step back, Sis. Watley informed the Deacon Board that Pastor Payton was not the reason people didn’t stay around, but the lifestyles of current members. From across the room agreed Brother Amos Macklin.
Keeping the momentum was Sister Juanita Greene declaring her anger for Pastor Payton and Roscoe Calhoun in making her apologize for the near-fistfight she had with another member during a church service over two years ago, and Pastor Payton claiming there’s Hell in the choir she’s a part of.
Pastor Payton reiterated Sis. Greene’s statement that was true by repeating himself in front of everyone, “There’s Hell up in the choir.”
Pastor Payton said he had watched the choir and their lack of communication and attacks on Sister Valentine Moore – the choir leader – attributing it to negativity only Hell and the Devil could bring. Pastor Payton wanted everyone to understand the power of prophecy, and ignoring a person while the prophetic word is coming forth would prove detrimental (as with the choir/Hell statement).
After Sister Freda Watson questioned why Pastor Payton would verbally condemn the church to Hell with his words and sermons, Pastor Payton told her and everyone else that we don’t understand what he’s going through, “I deal with spiritual warfare on a daily basis. In comparison to you all, I’m on another level of warfare because I’m fighting spirits not only hindering myself, but also the church. And looking at the way this meeting is turning out, I can see this is nothing more than a meeting of evil.”
Pastor Payton went on to talk about how he’s not preaching for us, but to us, “And if you don’t like it, good. Because the Word is a two-edge sword and is cutting those who don’t like what they’re hearing.”
Pastor Payton wanted everyone to know that his leadership style is that of Jesus himself. Upon hearing Payton’s words in defense of his leadership skills, Sister Bertha Cooke dropped her head in disbelief as Deacon Carlton Stevens sighed – making his first sound since his opening speech nearly two hours ago.
Dcn. Holly returned to a vertical position to say that Pastor Payton’s style isn’t that of Jesus because all he did was pick whom he wanted for the positions that Payton saw fit.
Dcn. Holly felt Payton’s style was absolutely wrong, “And I won’t stand for anything that’s wrong.”
