ORLANDO, Fla. – After a local church’s worship service was interrupted last week, a group dedicated to standing up against discrimination stood out front to ensure the congregation would have a safe place to worship on Sunday.
Last week, a service at the Joy Metropolitan Community Church in Orlando was disrupted when a group of people entered and began “spewing hate” after a children’s song, according to the Rev. Terri Steed Pierce.
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Joy MCC’s website states the church welcomes all races, cultures, sexual orientations and gender identities. Pierce called last week’s incident “unnerving.”
“It’s not godly,” Pierce said. “Like I said the other day, it’s just not of God when you want to interrupt and disrupt. We can disagree, but you don’t do that in the midst of someone worshipping God.”
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As a result of that incident, Central Florida Pledge showed up to stand outside the church and protect the congregation during its regular Sunday services.
According to its website, Central Florida Pledge asks residents to “commit to treating all people with empathy and understanding.”
It goes on to say by taking the Pledge, you become part of a “first-of-its-kind team of ‘community first responders.’” The Pledge defines this as “people who stand ready to act when hate or discrimination threatens our neighbors.”
Dr. Joel Hunter, chairman of Central Florida Pledge, was there Sunday morning.
“It’s a gut punch because you just hate to see anybody interrupted in their worship,” Hunter said. “It’s against the law, but it’s also just rude and persecutory.”
Linda Simmons, who was present on Sunday, said it wasn’t a difficult decision for her to show up and support.
“It’s a powerful church,” Simmons said. “And the pastor, Reverend Terry, is wonderful, and Reverend Stanley and all of the people are all wonderful and they deserve to still have the arms of the community wrap around them and keep them safe.”
Pierce said she hopes the church’s message of love will prevail.
“I just hope that our stance and our saying — love is going to win in us and through us regardless of what you do — that is the overarching message that will come from this because God will always take what others mean for evil and work it for good,” Pierce said.
To learn more about Central Florida Pledge, click here.