Daniel Whyte III, President of Gospel Light Society International says Glory be to God! Grandmama is Finally Laid to Rest in Church Cemetery After Pastor Allegedly Denied Allowing Her to be Buried There Because She Did Not Tithe. Here is What Daniel Whyte III Told the Pastor Months Ago in the Heat of This Church Mess:
WATCH: THE DEVIL IS BUSY! Daniel Whyte III, President of Gospel Light Society International, tells Rev. Harvey Saunders of First Baptist Church of Hollins in Roanoke, Virginia, that this mess sounds like something else other than this woman not tithing and being removed from the membership rolls for some reason. Whyte tells Pastor Harvey Saunders to let the family bury their dead in the church’s graveyard with the quickness.
Whyte tells Pastor Saunders that from his years of pastoring, he knows that some of the older women in the church can get on the wrong side of the pastor for the most insignificant things. Whyte says he remembers an older educated woman who was a part of the public school system whom Whyte put over the Christian school at the church, was teaching the children to sing the song “Red, Yellow, Black, and White; They Are all Precious in God’s Sight” in a different way by adding the word “Brown” thus making it “Red, Yellow, Black, BROWN, and White.” She was teaching little children. So Whyte told her to just sing it the old-fashioned way and leave “BROWN” out, and make it simple for the children. Well, to make a long story short, she got angry and started trying to cause problems for Whyte over something close to nothing.
Whyte remembers another older woman in the church who was one of the church’s most faithful soul-winners. She got mad with Whyte because a distant half-brother who, according to her husband, they did not even know, suddenly died, and she got mad at Pastor Whyte because he did not rush over to her house and visit her for a half-brother who died whom she did not even know. She stayed mad at Whyte and tried to cause some problems for him and the church until she and her family left the church.
Whyte says to Rev. Saunders, if something like that happened between you and this deceased older woman in the church where she may have shown disrespect for you or led a rebellion against you, then you need to forgive her, overlook what happened, and let her family bury her in the church’s graveyard. At this point, it really does not matter how you feel about it or what you think about it. In this day and age, you can do something like this in a corner, but once it hits one newspaper, it will be picked up by many other publications, including this one, and it will spread around the world. For example, just this one publication reaches people in all the countries of the world. So if you do not want to look like a mean, petty pastor, let this family bury their mother in the graveyard with the rest of the family with the quickness, and kill the story because it is not hurting anybody but you. Once these stories go up online, in most cases, they stay up forever.
Alice “Sallie” Garrison was 82 when she died Aug. 30. She was a lifelong resident of Roanoke County, a 1959 graduate of George Washington Carver High, a single mom and a grandmother.
In her younger years, Garrison engaged in community activism on behalf of underprivileged youth and people who lacked indoor plumbing. According to her obituary, she raised foster children alongside three of her own.
During more recent years, the longtime Baptist experienced a number of health challenges. Garrison was a large woman, and she was in and out of the hospital and rehab. On occasions she ventured out, it was with the help of another person — and a wheelchair or a walker, said her daughter and co-caregiver, Kathy Garrison.
Her funeral at Hamlar-Curtis Funeral Home was Saturday afternoon. Here are some bits from the obituary:
“Affectionately known as ‘Sallie,’ she accepted Christ at a young age when she joined First Baptist Church Hollins (FBCH) and quickly gravitated towards music. Throughout her music ministry, Sallie utilized her strong and powerful alto voice as she served on the FBCH Junior Choir, L. Lejoure Mass Choir, Senior Choir, and the melodic group known as the Vocaliers. She later organized the Garrison Family Choir and served some time as Youth Choir Director.”
When Alice “Sallie” Garrison passed this August, her dying wish was to be buried at First Baptist Church Hollins (FBCH) in Roanoke, Virginia. The 82-year-old wanted to be laid to rest beside her parents, siblings, and other extended family members, but the church initially denied her request because of her alleged failure to tithe, The Roanoke Times reported.
FBCH Pastor Rev. Harvey Saunders reportedly told Garrison’s family members that their deceased loved one had been removed from church membership for failing to tithe. Church bylaws prohibit non church member from being buried in the church’s cemetery, The Roanoke Times said.
Now after months of dispute, Garrison is finally buried at the church to which she had been committed her whole life, family members announced on Facebook.
When Pastor Saunders denied the burial request, her family contested his claims that Garrison had stopped tithing, The Roanoke Times reported. The family alleged that she continued to give to the church despite health issues that kept her from regularly attending.
Her family said Garrison had sent 22 checks to the church between 2016 and 2023. Garrison’s last check was sent on Jan. 3 for $400. Totaling $1,765 , the family told The Roanoke Times that all in checks have been cashed.
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Garrison had long been involved with the church, and even accepted Christ at FBCH at young age, according to her obituary. While attending FBCH, she quickly gravitated toward music and used her “strong and powerful alto voice” to sing in the church choir and found its youth choir, the obituary added.
She also facilitated a youth summer program at FBCH.
“Her dying wish was to be buried in that (church) cemetery,” her son Gregory Garrison told The Roanoke Times.
In September, Brenda Hale, leader of Roanoke’s chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said she unsuccessfully attempted to intercede on Garrison’s behalf.
“She was baptized there,” Hale said. “She was a vibrant member for years. She started a choir there. She was someone to be respected.”
Hale added that Garrison lived on Social, but still managed to donate whatever she could.
Following Hale’s advocacy, Garrison’s family launched a change.org petition in September to ensure Garrison received the “proper burial she deserves.”
The petition said that Garrison was a devoted church member and the “backbone” of the musical department.
“Our beloved mother’s unwavering faithfulness and dutifulness to her church throughout the decades has ended in utter and shear disrespect rendered by the attending church pastor,” the petition stated. “Our goal is to bury our mom in her rightful place, a place where she grew up and a place where she worshipped and was adored by those who knew her.”
The petition alleges that Garrison was removed from church membership without “proper notification.”
“We firmly believe that it is an injustice and a gross act of discrimination that a religious institution has denied its member the right of burial,” the petition added. “Her entire family that preceded her in death is buried in the cemetery. Only five months ago her beloved sister was buried there.”
Source: Julie Roys
To read more, click here: https://julieroys.com/grandmother-laid-rest-church-cemetery-after-denied-allegedly-not-tithing/
