Johnson County pastor attended DC Trump rally: A ‘slap in the face’ for church members
Tricia Jones-Bok says she has grown increasingly uneasy with the politics at her Lenexa church, her spiritual home since she was 19.
But the images she saw on Facebook last week were “a complete slap in the face,” she said. One of the church’s executive pastors, Luke Weese, was pictured posing for selfies at the pro-Trump rally in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, before the deadly insurrection aimed at overturning the presidential election.
“Myself and other members of my group and church are somewhat not surprised, but are surprised by the blatant disrespect.”
City Center Church — a Pentecostal megachurch which touts itself as having one of the most diverse memberships in the region — has seen its congregation splinter over the divisive issues of the past year, she said.
It has ignored calls by some Black members to take a stronger stand on racial injustice, said some current and former members.
That, and the COVID-19 pandemic, have caused some members to leave this past year, those interviewed told The Star. For others, the photos of Weese were the final straw.
Weese and other pastors at the church did not return multiple messages left by The Star requesting an interview. The Star received an email from the church’s media department on Friday saying that leaders “have no further comments on this matter.”
But Pastor Tommy Torres did write a comment on Facebook last week after the photos were widely shared on social media, arguing that Weese was “there to pray.” He said the photos were being “misrepresented for something it is not.”
“He was no where (sic) near the capitol at the time of the raid. He was there to pray. By the way, many of our pastors were also at the prayer over the summer on Truman with many black and brown leaders from our community in response to the events over the summer,” Torres wrote in the post shared with The Star.
“We are trying to represent Jesus to the best of our ability. Do we make mistakes …. of course … just like you … just like everyone else. Was being in a photo with other people who don’t necessarily represent our values not the wisest decision … probably, and for that we apologize.”
In videos shared on Facebook, Weese is seen walking with the crowd of President Donald Trump supporters, many wearing Make America Great Again hats and waving Trump flags, near the Washington Monument, before the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol.
For some, seeing their pastor at an event that also drew the violent mob that stormed the Capitol, the extremists who brought a Confederate flag in the building, was especially disturbing. Some congregation members, including many people of color, are now speaking out about how they’ve felt increasingly estranged from the church.
Across the country, the contentious politics of the last five years have made their way inside church doors. Some continue to attend, despite differences on issues like abortion or the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jones-Bok, who is Black and now 46, has raised two children at the church, on West 87th Street Parkway, just west of Interstate 435. She has devoted countless hours to volunteer work. She said it pains her to watch national politics make its way into the pews.
“I love my church and the church family. I would have never stayed and served for so long if I did not,” Jones-Bok said. “There are, of course, other churches I could attend, but I grew a bond with those people and did life together with many of them, and the people there will always have a big piece of my heart.”
‘Divided church is devastating’
Athena McCray attended City Center Church off and on since childhood, then started attending regularly in 2010.
“What initially drew me to CCC was the diversity of people that attend. … I made many friends of different backgrounds and races that supported me and encouraged me in some very difficult times. I thought I was a part of something special,” she said.
Current and former members said that about 40% of the congregation is made up of people of color. And the church does outreach specifically for its diverse membership. Torres, for example, is pastor of the church’s Spanish language ministry, according to the website.
Many members spoke fondly of the church, its leadership and the pastors’ influence on their lives.
But like some Christians across the country, McCray started feeling conflicted about her church around the time of the 2016 election.
“I realized just how many of my fellow congregants and pastors were staunch supporters of Donald Trump. Over the next four years, there were many heated discussions about the rhetoric that (Trump) and his followers became known for, rhetoric that was not Christ-like and racist,” said McCray, who is Black.
“During the time, I began to notice the attitudes of people change, the culture was very divisive and we began to hear more conservative rhetoric coming from the pulpit.”
While some evangelicals view Trump’s messaging as anti-Christian, others have staunchly supported him. And Trump’s presidency has illuminated a racial rift: About 80% of white evangelical voters supported Trump in the November election, according to the Associated Press, compared to 40% among other evangelicals.
Many supporters consider Trump’s term an overall success, as he delivered three conservative Supreme Court justices and more than 200 federal judges who back restrictions on abortion and gay marriage, for example.
Religious leaders across the country have condemned the storming of the U.S. Capitol, with many taking a public stand against Trump for inciting the riot. But many other evangelicals and faith leaders continue to support him.
In a recent study, LifeWay Research found that while few pastors endorse political candidates from the pulpit, a growing number are supporting candidates outside of the church. Out of Protestant pastors surveyed, 32% said they personally endorsed political candidates in 2020 outside of their church role, a jump from 22% in 2016.
The majority of pastors still avoid publicly backing specific candidates, even outside of church, the survey said, with 65% saying they did not endorse a politician.
Rachel Schwaller, a lecturer in American religion at the University of Kansas, said that churches as a whole have always been “highly political organizations,” and pastors have frequently been at the forefront of political and social movements.
But surrounding the most recent election, some pastors across the country have decided to endorse candidates or seep politics further into their messages, she said.
“Some pastors are basically saying that if we don’t, we will not have a church anymore. It won’t be safe to be a Christian in the United States,” she said. “That fear about the growth of a Biden administration, and that they must fight for our moral center and democracy, as well as their souls, is very real for many people.”
Some say Trump’s presidency has not only further divided their country, but also their churches.
After the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, Doug Clay — a leader of Assemblies of God, which is part of the Pentecostal denomination of which City Center is a member — said it was “an unsettling and embarrassing day for our nation.”
In his post online he wrote, “I would like to pray for unity in the local church. A divided nation is discouraging, but a divided Church is devastating.”
‘I cannot remain quiet’
After the death of George Floyd in May at the hands of Minneapolis police, McCray said it became more difficult to ignore her differences in beliefs compared to some of her fellow congregation members and church leaders.
In June, several women penned a letter to leaders, outlining concerns about member and staff comments they considered racist or racially insensitive in light of the ongoing protests against police brutality and racial injustice.
“In addition, we felt the church’s response to these events left many with questions about our church’s position on the issues of social justice,” she said in an email to The Star. “In an effort to gain clarity and in a spirit of optimism, we brought our concerns to leadership.”
The women asked that the church develop a diversity council that reflects the congregation, to work with staff to guide responses and bring better cultural awareness. They asked for diversity training for staff and congregation members; for leaders to promote and hire more staff members of color; and for the church to enhance outreach to previously underserved areas of the Kansas City metro.
McCray and others who signed the letter said they were met with “hostility, avoidance and eventually, retaliation,” including from Weese, who is white. Some alleged that church staff told them they could no longer volunteer in the children’s ministry or serve in other ways. Church leadership refused an interview, so did not address these accusations.
Some members left as a result of the fallout. Jones-Bok said, “Many Black and white members left the church during the pandemic shutdown and never came back.”
And McCray said that the photos showing Weese “participating in the rally that led to attempted insurrection at the Capitol caused our hurt and concerns about issues to resurface.” She said the goal is to “bring awareness to the state of racism in the American church.”
The decision to leave a church, especially one considered home for years, is not easy, some said as they described the agony the split caused them.
“At the end of the day, I’m unbothered by politics, my allegiance is to Christ alone, which is why I cannot remain quiet,” McCray said. “Especially when I know so many others, people of color mainly, are feeling the same pain in our churches.”
This story was originally published January 19, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
