Pastor Charles Worley's May 13 anti-gay
sermon was protested on Sunday by more than 2,000 people, the Hickory
Daily Record reported.
Worley, who ministers at the Providence
Road Baptist Church in Maiden, North Carolina, told congregants that
gay
men and women should be confined behind an electrified fence and
allowed to die off.
When he added, “Somebody said, 'Who
you gonna vote for?' I ain't gonna vote for a baby killer and a
homosexual lover,” some in the crowd could be heard responding with
“Amen.”
Holding signs which read “Jesus had 2
dads and he turned out just fine” and “I am a gay, moral
conservative Christian” the protesters lined Southwest Boulevard in
nearby Newton.
A small but vocal group of more than 50
counter-protesters holding signs which read “Gay pride is why Sodom
got fried” and “Sodomites are vile, unnatural and worthy of
death. Romans 1:21-32” stood in to support Worley and his church.
Laura Tipton, a member of the Catawba
Valley Citizens Against Hate, the group behind the protest, said she
hoped Worley's congregation “sees that we are gathering in love.
Their messages are wrong, and we will not accept them.”
Jeremiah Davidson of Atlanta, a Worley
supporter, said: “We're trying to stand up against censorship and
totalitarianism. I'm here for free speech and the gospel of Christ –
I'll know I've been successful because I've done the will of God.”
(Related: Charles
Worley greeted with standing ovation.)