text: Posted at 7:39 PM, Jul 30, 2012
  and last updated 2012-07-30 19:39:01-04
  (CNN) — A Mississippi church that wouldn't allow a black couple to marry in its sanctuary because of the couple's race appears to be trying to right a wrong, as officials with the church's denomination decried the incident.
  Charles and Te' Andrea Wilson, regular attendees at First Baptist Church in Crystal Springs, Mississippi, were forced to relocate their wedding this month at the last minute. Their pastor, Stan Weatherford, made the relocation request on behalf of some congregants who didn't want to see the couple married there, according to CNN affiliate WLBT.
  At services on Sunday, the congregation's leadership addressed the controversy in a statement read to the church.
  "Our many ministries here are open to everyone and have been for many years," the church deacons said in a statement read to the congregation, according to The Clarion Ledger. "We would never consider doing otherwise."
  "The deacons made an affirmation that First Baptist Church would be available to minister to anybody in the church or the community. That went over real well," said Copiah County Baptist Association Director George Pat Bufkin, who attended the service. " They're now in the way of amends."
  Bufkin portrayed the move to deny the black couple a chance to marry in the church as the work of a small minority whom he called "radicals" and who he said made mostly anonymous calls to their pastor to complain about the black couple's wedding. Bufkin said he did not know who exactly was behind the calls.
  "Anytime the church grows you always have the devil there, trying to stir up problems," Bufkin said. "That's what occurred here and the deacons have already nipped that in the bud."
  "I didn't want to have a controversy within the church, and I didn't want a controversy to affect the wedding of Charles and Te' Andrea," he said. "I wanted to make sure their wedding day was a special day."
  Jonathan Thompson, the 27-year-old community relations director for the city of Crystal Springs, was at First Baptist's Sunday service, and said the incident "didn't represent all the people of the church."
  "I wanted to come as a voice of racial reconciliation and spiritual reconciliation," said Thompson, who is African-American, explaining his decision to go to the church on Sunday.
  Thompson said he was welcomed at the service. "I was allowed to give the closing prayer," he said. He said he prayed God would forgive all of them for their sins and that they would be able to find reconciliation.
  "I think this is an opportunity to really get intentional about reconciling," he said.
  "Mississippi Baptists both reject racial discrimination and at the same time respect the autonomy of our local churches to deal with difficulties and disagreements under the lordship of Jesus," said Dr. Jim Futral, the executive director the Mississippi Baptist Convention.
  "While there may be hurts, wrongs and mistakes that must be addressed, the context for this to happen is in a historical church with a genuine caring pastor and thoughtful leaders who are seeking to do right," Futral's statement continued. "We, along with our entire body of faith, pray for them and stand ready to do anything that we can to help that church and that community."
  "We're not a top down organization," said Roger Oldham. "We're a bottom up organization. The congregation is the governing body."
  "The SBC has taken a strong position that racism is a sin and Christians should always oppose it," he said, referring to the Southern Baptist Convention. "We're also grieved when a small group attempts to set policy for the entire congregation."
  Richard Land, head of the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, criticized First Baptist's action.
  "There are valid as well as nonvalid reasons for not permitting a couple to get married with the blessing of that local congregation of believers," Land said. "The race or ethnicity of that couple is never a valid reason and any local body of believers who rejects a couple on those grounds should be reprimanded."
  "Everyone should understand that in the SBC this decision resides with the local congregation for good or ill. If this couple was indeed rejected because of their race, as a Southern Baptist I'm embarrassed, frustrated, and I apologize to the couple on behalf of the Convention for the hurt and emotional pain they've experienced," Land's statement continued.
  Charles Wilson, the groom at the center of the controversy, said on Sunday, "All we wanted to do in the eyes of God was to be man and wife in a church that we thought we felt loved. What was wrong with that?"
  Te'Andrea Wilson said, "I had dreams of having my wedding the way I wanted it, and I also dreamed of having it at the church and unfortunately, it didn't happen."
  Her husband said if there was a time to "step up and be Christ-like," it was before their wedding.
  "If it was such a minority of people, why didn't the majority stand up and say, 'In God's house we don't do this'?" Charles Wilson asked.
  On Sunday, some church members reacted to news of the wedding with surprise. Many hadn't known what happened to the Wilsons until they heard about it on the news, and offered apologies.
  "I would say I'm sorry this happened and would you forgive the people who caused it? Because we're gonna try to," Bob Mack told CNN affiliate WLBT.