MACON — In post-modern America, where a strong church-and-state separation mindset has become the law of the land, the likelihood of a Baptist choir singing Christmas carols in a government building is about as remote as a Ramadan service in city hall. But both events occurred in recent weeks in this middle-Georgia county seat and set a precedent for equal treatment under the law.

Score one for the Baptists in the church-state squabble that occurs every Christmas season. Mangers and crèches may be off limits on the nation’s court squares but Westside Baptist Church didn’t let that prevent them for petitioning for equal treatment for their concert in the Macon City Council chambers.

Outgoing Mayor Jack Ellis, who converted from Christianity to Islam in February following a December 2006 trip to Africa, allowed a Ramadan celebration in the city chambers following the end of the recent month-long Muslim holy period. Ellis, who will be changing his name to Hakim Mansour Ellis as part of his newly-adopted Sunni faith, granted equal access to the Warner Robins congregation after their request to provide a 30-minute Christmas concert on Dec. 5.

The mayor – who now prays five times a day – has told media outlets that though he switched faith groups, he isn’t ranking them.

“I’m not saying that one is better than the other. We do believe that the prophet Mohammed was the last prophet as well as we believe Moses was a prophet.” He said he converted to Islam to return to his roots following his trip to Africa.

“When I say ‘back to my roots,’ Islam was in Senegal prior to the Africans being brought here as slaves,” he previously explained.

The Macon native became the city’s first Black mayor when he was sworn into office on Dec. 14, 1999. He is completing his second term and cannot run for another term.

Ellis, who formerly attended Unionville Missionary Baptist Church on Houston Ave., welcomed the choir to what he termed “the people’s house where citizens gather to conduct the business of government” and thanked them for coming to share their faith. Then, following opening comments by pastor G. Wayne Dorsett and minister of music Gordon Powers, the sounds of the Christmas season reverberated throughout the chamber and into the adjoining hallways.

 

Open window

The choir, which has performed in area shopping malls in and around Macon for the past three years, felt at home in the seat of government as it told the Christmas story through a half-dozen rousing songs ranging from “Swingin’ to the Sounds” medley and “Joy to the World” to “I Believe in a Hill Called Mount Calvary.” Slightly more than 100 guests attended the lunchtime concert in the 200-seat chamber.

In an interview prior to the concert, Powers said he made the request of Ellis when he learned about the Ramadan service.

“That service was a worship service so we felt God had opened a window for us to request equal time. We wanted an opportunity to proclaim the gospel of Jesus, and are grateful that the mayor granted the request,” he said.

 

Macon a statement

Powers said the concert was meant to “send a message of love and give City Hall employees a gift of music that was appropriate to the season, which celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.”

The church staff member initiated the request after seeing a news report of the Ramadan service in which Ellis said, “There are Muslim women in this community that are afraid to wear the head scarf because they’re afraid they’ll be ostracized or laughed at or even ridiculed. We need to get beyond that.”

Powers said that’s when he emailed Macon’s city hall to request permission to give the concert. It was granted two weeks later in a follow-up phone call.

The music director said he wasn’t outraged by the Ramadan service but he felt Christians have been asked to give up their rights for too long. “Unless we stand up more often and say ‘We as Christians have a right to do this,’ we lose our voice.

“I want my three children to be able to grow up in a country where they have the freedom to have a voice to share their faith. With that goal in mind, we wanted to claim this moment in time to take the Christmas story out of the church and move it into the larger public arena.”

Dorsett told The Index that the Warner Robins congregation wanted “to make a statement about God’s love through Jesus Christ” and was praying that the concert “would provide a positive witness too that the church loves, admires, and respects the government employees who work in the building.”

 

For free expression

He also said that the church wanted to take advantage of a witnessing opportunity “that doesn’t come very often. We wanted to walk through the open door that the Lord had given to us.

“We most likely would not have sought out the performance due to the strong sentiment about separation between church and state, but when Mayor Ellis allowed the Ramadan ceremony to build visibility for area Muslims, we felt we had a legitimate request for equal time,” he added.

“We are not intimidated at all by the fact that there was a Muslim worship service in City Hall. We are for free expression of speech and one’s faith and are grateful for this opportunity to share the gospel of Jesus Christ,” he told a local news reporter, downplaying the Ramadan service.

The Macon Telegraph was less than pleased about the two services. After the Ramadan service it published an editorial titled “Using City Hall for religious purposes is not appropriate.” The day following the Westside concert its editorial was titled “Wrong + wrong doesn’t = right.”

But Tim Millwood, director of missions for Rehoboth Baptist Association in Warner Robins, attended the concert and said the performance “was not something we pushed our way into but when a door opens, you walk through it.”

Powers agreed.

“Christmas is about Christ. We do a lot of things around this time of year, but I hope people will see an outpouring of Christ through this concert. I also hope it will provide an awareness of what we as Christians can do, if we just will.”