Pastor Terry Jackson of the the True Vine Apostolic Church in Hampton, VA is catching heat for how he handled the pregnancy of one of his young church members.
In a clip that has now gone viral, the unwed teenage girl is forced to apologize to her church congregation for her pregnancy.
In the clip, the teen girl stands in front of the church and announces, “I want to apologize to everybody in here because I am pregnant… I’m sorry y’all. I just hope that y’all forgive me.”
After the apology, members of the church stand and applaud the tearful young girl.
Afterwards the pastor preached, "If you sin, you don’t wait till the baby come to repent… We ain’t gon’ condone your sin now… we ain’t gon do that. Ain’t no baby showers going on, that’s what you lose out on. When you have a baby out of wedlock you don’t get a baby shower and nobody at this church should attend one.”
Former sports commentator and podcaster, Jemele Hill shared the incident on Instagram and wrote in the caption: "I have a lot of thoughts but I’m going to let y’all have it. But I’ll just say this: The only person who should be ashamed in this scenario is the pastor. I hope she finds a new church home.”
However, in a surprise turn of events, a woman claiming to be the mother to the pregnant teen shared in a now deleted Facebook post that she stands in solidarity with the pastor.
The woman, self-identified as Dee Myles, wrote: "To everyone that’s concerned, we greatly appreciate it. However, I do want you to know that you all are interrupting my peace and is causing more damage than good. You are showing up disrupting my church, my beliefs, and disrespecting my pastor. I am where I want to be and where I chose to be. We were not forced or manipulated to stand before the congregation. My daughter willingly approached the congregation and was welcomed and embraced with open arms. I stand on what I’ve been taught, and I’m raising my daughter to do the same. I stand with my Pastor."
The pastor forcing the teen to apologize publicly is coming under scrutiny for a number of reasons.
To begin, forcing the teen to apology in front of the entire church congregation is a form of public shaming that does nothing to quell teenage pregnancy. Public shaming may compel girls in similar situations to hide their pregnancy, stray away from church, or terminate their pregnancy altogether. Moreover, such scare tactics have become increasingly problematic for teen girls in recent years as female reproductive rights have become more restrictive.
In addition, public shaming may increase the stress and affect the health of both the unborn child and the teenage mother.
In the video, the pastor makes it clear that there should be no baby showers or celebrations for the child. His approach punishes the child, when the child did nothing wrong. Also, without a baby shower, he may be robbing the mother of resources she may need. And despite the circumstances, the birth of a baby and bringing life into the world should be a joyous time and cause for celebration. You never know what may come of the child (just ask Mary about her baby Jesus).
Finally, while the unwed teenage girl was forced to reveal and repent of her "sins," the baby's father was left unscathed, unattached to the health of the child and free from the humiliation.
Let's just hope that the child is born healthy and guided by the hand of God, and the teenage mother and her baby are surrounded by immense love and support during these difficult circumstances.
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