Members of a Baptist church in Elberton, Georgia, have voted to oust their pastor after he fired a 103-year-old member of the church who had expressed disagreement with his practices.
The members of the congregation cast their vote on Sunday removing Rev. Tim Mattox from the Union Grove Baptist Church after he revoked the church membership of Genora Hamm Biggs, who has been attending the church for 92 years.
Mattox was given a "Letter of Termination" and was ordered to remove his belongings from the church, according to the Athens Banner-Herald.
The issue stemmed from a letter dated Aug. 2 that the church sent to Biggs telling her that her membership in the church had been revoked.
"Dear Mrs. Genora Hamm Biggs: 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. Therefore, you cannot attend Union Grove Baptist Church for any reason whatsoever. You are not to come to the property of the Union Grove Baptist Church located at 680 Pulliam Street, Elberton, Georgia 30635. Sincerely, The members and officers of the Union Grove Baptist Church," the letter read.
"I was shocked. And it was not a good feeling," Hamm Biggs told WHNS Fox.
She said, "The letter said we're not to come back, but we went back – police were there."
But the police did not remove her from the church premises.
"He [Mattox] told police he wanted to put us out, but the police told him 'you can't do that,'" she said.
Hamm Biggs said Mattox wanted her out of the church because she spoke out against him.
"He's a holy, sanctified minister – we are Baptist and he has divided the church," she said, adding that Mattox is not following the Baptist Church covenant and is trying to change the denomination.
"I haven't seen anything like this before," she added.
Hamm Biggs' name is written on the side of the church and she wants to bring back the church that she used to know. Hamm Biggs was a former secretary of the church.
"I wanna get my church straight like it has been," she said.
