Makeda Pennycooke, Freedom House Church's executive pastor of operations sent out an email to church volunteers asking that "only white people" greet worshippers at church services, according to Time Swampland.
The email also said that leaders anticipated an increased number of visitors in the coming weeks and that since "first impressions matter," the church wants "the best of the best on the front doors." This sparked fury among church-goers.
An outraged church member received the email and forwarded it to the local news station WBTV. What complicated the issue further is the fact that Pennycooke is a black woman, while the church's senior pastors, Troy and Penny Maxwell are both white.
"We are continuing to work to bring our racial demographic pendulum back to mid-line," Pennycooke wrote in her email. "We would rather have less greeters on the front door if it means that the few that we will have will represent us the best."
The Freedom House has already apologized for the incident. "The email was sent by one of our longtime pastors in an attempt to emphasize that our greeting team reflect the racial diversity of our entire congregation," one of the church's spokesperson wrote in a statement to WBTV. "However, she admitted that it was a mistake to over-emphasize any specific group and sent an apology email 24 hours after the original email came out."
This weekend, the church will be having four services. According to their website, the church is driven by five values: "We are an equipping church (Ephesians 4:11-13); a relationally healthy church (Matthew 18:19-20); an excellent church (Daniel 6:3); a leadership church; and agenerous church (Proverbs 11:24-25)."
