Read the Beforeitsnews.com story here. Advertise at Before It's News here.
Profile image
Story Views
Now:
Last hour:
Last 24 hours:
Total:

Darkness | Walmart in Santa Rosa County, Florida runs off annual Christmas Carolers.

% of readers think this story is Fact. Add your two cents.



The Darkness Grows Darker

Walmart in Santa Rosa County, Florida runs off annual Christmas Carolers. They were summarily told to “leave.”

Assistant Manager Mark Curry: ‘I’ll do what I have to do.’
Pastor Gallups: ‘There’s an important matter of perspective here.’


PNN News and Ministry Network Staff Writer


Pastor Carl Gallups of Hickory Hammock Church in Milton, Florida has led his church for about fifteen years in an annual Christmas caroling event at the local Walmart. 
Volunteer members from his church, other churches, and even random people from the community, gather and stand outside in a large alcove area on the front side of the store that faces the parking lot. 
They usually have anywhere from 70-100 carolers to show up and sing traditional Christmas carols, sometimes accompanied by a live manger scene. The entire event lasts no more than an hour, but has become a beloved Christmas tradition for the community and its shoppers.
Pastor Gallups says, “Of course, we have always sought and received permission to do the caroling event. In fact, over the years, we’ve actually had managers call us just before the Christmas holidays and ask us if we were coming back again – telling us that they get so many compliments on the caroling.  We’ve never had a moment’s trouble with the caroling. Not an unkind word has ever been spoken to us, and not a soul has leveled an objection to us simply standing out front (not even near an entrance) and singing Christmas carols that are well-known throughout the world.”

“We asked permission again this year,” Pastor Gallups said. “One of our associate pastors, who is also the main worship leader of our church, called the main office a few weeks before we came and asked if it was okay to return again this year to sing. The woman in the office said it would be fine, and appreciated the phone call. My associate pastor told her that we just wanted to be courteous and that we would never come without asking first. She thanked us and told us to ‘come on.’”

When asked if the church group ever sold anything, or did any kind of solicitation or parking-lot proselytizing, pastor Gallups said, “Never. Absolutely not. We simply come, set up the manger scene and sing. We talk to people who come up to us. Most of them thank us for singing, or ask us what church we are from – things like that. But we do not solicit anything from anyone. We are simply there to shine a little light in the darkness.”

“The shoppers love it!” Pastor Gallups said. “Some people stand around in groups in the parking lot, on the grass islands, and listen to us sing the entire time. Others come and join us in the singing. A lot of people drive through in their cars with their windows down and give us the thumbs up, or shout ‘thank you so much for doing this!’  Others have taken video footage of us and immediately post it on social media. The response has always been extremely positive. In all our years of singing the carols, not one time has anyone said anything nasty to us. We’ve even had Walmart employees and managers come out and thank us – while we are singing. Until this year.”

The Grinch
This year, however, all of that changed. Pastor Gallups related the following to PNN.

“Last night, while we were singing, a Walmart assistant manager by the name of Mark Curry approached me and asked who we were. I was somewhat taken aback, since we’ve done this for so many years and we had once again asked permission to be there. I told him that I was the pastor and I told him who we were. I could tell by the look on his face, and his overall tone, that he did not like the fact that we were there. He wanted to know if we had permission and who we had talked to – he said that he would not allow what we were doing if we did not have permission. I told him again of our long standing tradition in what we were doing and that for every single year of singing in this location that we had always asked for permission, including this year. I asked him if they had had any complaints about us this night – and he said he just wanted to know ‘who told you that you could come.’”

Pastor Gallups related that the assistant manager appeared skeptical. “Mr. Curry looked at me as though he thought I was lying, when I assured him that we had permission, and that we had called the administrative offices beforehand. I saw it in his face. His expression was that of total disbelief in my words.”

We asked Pastor Gallups what he did then. “So, I told him that we would leave if he wanted us to, that we would not give him any trouble but that we certainly did have permission to be there.”

“I told him that we didn’t just ‘show up’ and start singing on their property. I told him that we would never do such a thing. Mr. Curry told me that he was going back in the store and would be checking with the manager on duty that night and then he was going to ‘do what he had to do.’ Those were the actual words he used! And then he turned and walked off. I couldn’t believe my ears.”


The Response
PNN asked Pastor Gallups, “What did Mr. Curry say when he returned?”

The pastor responded, “He came back about ten minutes later and said that ‘none of the people in the office knew anything about us singing.’ He then told us we would have to leave immediately, that he ‘wasn’t going to allow us to be there.’  Again, he said ‘I’ll do what I have to do.’ I took it as some kind of threat – as if he might call the police or something. I could be mistaken in his meaning, but in my opinion, his entire conversation and attitude exuded a threatening tone.  I told him that we would leave, and that I too would ‘do what I had to do.’ He stopped and looked at me and slightly grinned. I explained that what I meant by that was that I would make certain that people knew how we had been treated that night. He chuckled and said, ‘go ahead.’  I knew then that the affair was taking an ugly turn. It seemed to me at that point that Mr. Curry perhaps had an alternative agenda. The entire affair could have been handled in much more courteous and amicable manner. So, at that time, I assured him that we would comply with his instructions and leave.”

We asked pastor Gallups how the caroling crowd responded when he told them. “They were embarrassed and heartbroken. Some had invited their friends and family members to come with them. We’ve been doing this with the utmost of integrity and respect for so many years. We simply had a word of prayer for the store managers, and Mr. Curry in particular. Nothing derogatory was said about Mr. Curry, I just told them to pray for him.”

We asked Pastor Gallups, “What happens next? What are your plans for follow-up?”  

“Well, I plan to have a meeting with store managers and see if we can’t get to the bottom of this misunderstanding from last night. The evening did not bode well for Walmart’s reputation in the community, I can assure you. But, we’ve had such a great relationship with them in the past, I can’t imagine we can’t work something out. The bottom line is this – it is Walmart’s property and it is their right to not have us there. We are not trying to force ourselves on anyone. We will abide by their ultimate wishes in the matter. We will sing somewhere else next year. Within an hour of the event being closed down by Mr. Curry last night, we had calls from another Walmart in our county – from employees there who had already heard. They said ‘Come to our store! We’d love to have you sing carols at our store!” 


Perspective
Pastor Gallups said, “This is not a big thing in the long run. A little ‘persecution.’ Big deal. We have almost 100,000 of our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world, who are put to death each year simply because they are followers of Jesus. Getting kicked out of one Walmart is no big deal. We’ll be just fine. All praise to Jesus Christ, that at least we got to sing into the darkness for a little while.”


Source: http://ppsimmons.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-darkness-grows-darker-walmart-in.html



Before It’s News® is a community of individuals who report on what’s going on around them, from all around the world.

Anyone can join.
Anyone can contribute.
Anyone can become informed about their world.

"United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.

Please Help Support BeforeitsNews by trying our Natural Health Products below!


Order by Phone at 888-809-8385 or online at https://mitocopper.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST

Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomic.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST

Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomics.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST


Humic & Fulvic Trace Minerals Complex - Nature's most important supplement! Vivid Dreams again!

HNEX HydroNano EXtracellular Water - Improve immune system health and reduce inflammation.

Ultimate Clinical Potency Curcumin - Natural pain relief, reduce inflammation and so much more.

MitoCopper - Bioavailable Copper destroys pathogens and gives you more energy. (See Blood Video)

Oxy Powder - Natural Colon Cleanser!  Cleans out toxic buildup with oxygen!

Nascent Iodine - Promotes detoxification, mental focus and thyroid health.

Smart Meter Cover -  Reduces Smart Meter radiation by 96%! (See Video).

Report abuse

    Comments

    Your Comments
    Question   Razz  Sad   Evil  Exclaim  Smile  Redface  Biggrin  Surprised  Eek   Confused   Cool  LOL   Mad   Twisted  Rolleyes   Wink  Idea  Arrow  Neutral  Cry   Mr. Green

    Total 1 comment
    • DK

      Obviosuly the FNG who nobody likes in the office let alone talks to. Ring again and get permission, preferably by fax.

    MOST RECENT
    Load more ...

    SignUp

    Login

    Newsletter

    Email this story
    Email this story

    If you really want to ban this commenter, please write down the reason:

    If you really want to disable all recommended stories, click on OK button. After that, you will be redirect to your options page.