In Sweetwater, Tennessee, one pastor is refusing to grant a 71-year-old man’s dying wish: to be buried in the first church he ever attended.
Jessie Goodman says that his father is dying and only has a few days to live.
He revealed to ABC affiliate News 9 that Pastor Jay Scruggs of Lee’s Chapel Baptist Church will not bury his father if Jessie or his fiancé “take part in any way,” including just attending the ceremony.
“They’re punishing my dad for a lifestyle choice I’ve made. It’s not me up there in a casket. It’s him,” Goodman says.
Pastor Scruggs would not comment, “but did say he would talk with us after Jessie’s father is in the grave,” according to News 9.
The family has since decided to have the funeral elsewhere when Jessie’s father passes.