What began on social media sparked uproar in an Alabama community. A Reddit user commented on the welcome sign message presented by Carters Grove Baptist Church in Hazel Green. The sign stated, “Pride month sounds about right.” Underneath that phrase was a verse from Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goeth before destruction.”
The user who made the original Reddit post noted how this could upset members of the LQBTQ+ community, particularly those who are too afraid to come out. One user commented, “Look at it from another perspective. At least you know what to expect from that congregation, and you can make a decision based on the advertising they provide on the marquee. I had a hard time staying in the denomination I grew up in for the same reason, but none of the churches I attended were as blatant about their stance.”
Others, on the other hand, didn’t seem to think anything was wrong with the sign. “It makes me feel like the community is coming together and people are seeing different points of view from everybody else, and I feel like the church is being very supportive towards the pride and LQBTQ+ community,” one person said.
Pastor Jim Weaver of Carters Grove Baptist Church was contacted by Fox 54. He held firm in the decision to post the message on the sign. Weaver stated that he wants to discourage individuals from pursuing “an unhealthy lifestyle” as defined by the Bible. “I believe, scripturally speaking, promoting a lifestyle that the Bible calls sinful will bring a country down. It’s not bigotry, it is actually loving a person to tell them that things are not right in their life,” Pastor Weaver explained.
Pastor Weaver initially put up the sign in the month of June in response to Pride month. Weaver claimed he does not believe there should be a month-long celebration of what the church says is an “unscriptural lifestyle.” David Cleland, who was a member of the board of directors for Rocket City Pride at the time, also weighed in. “I can definitely see both sides,” he said. “So, the way I first read it was honestly, thinking that they were in support of pride.”
This wasn’t the only church sign that caused offense within a community down South. One gay couple in Montgomery, Alabama, was driving by the Wares Ferry Road Baptist Church when they noticed a sign that stated, “GOD DETESTS PRIDE.” The couple was so offended that they pulled over.
