Segregated Church at Eye of a Storm

When Suzie Harvill asked her parents to welcome her black, South African boyfriend into their Island Creek home for a visit, the traditional baptist couple was reluctant. More than a year later, however, the couple considers the young man a part of their family and have now vowed to stand by he and Suzie in a battle that has pitted them against elders in the Harvill’s Pike County church — a battle which may also have lasting repercussions on the church’s financial status.