Let me first say that if I could give Salem Baptist Church a zero star review I would, deservedly. My mother has been a member of Salem for over 50 years, and she passed away recently. She served on many church committees throughout her life here, in addition to teaching boys Sunday school class when I was growing up, and the financial contributions she made to the church and the cemetery fund. The last few years of her life the decline of her health forced her to slow down, being no longer able to attend or serve. She did not particularly care for the current pastor Kevin James, saying he was self-serving and did not care about the elderly members. Her analysis of him could not have been more accurate! She died Wed. Dec. 6, and my sister and I obviously had to make arrangements for her funeral & burial. My mother just requested a traditional graveside service, and she made it clear to my sister and I she DID NOT want Kevin James conducting her funeral service, and we made sure we would carry out her last wishes. My sister called the church phone number the following day on Thursday at around 3:30 PM to notify them that our mother passed away, and we would be having her graveside service on Sunday. No one answered when she called, but she left a message with her number asking someone to call her back to make arrangements to mark-off her burial plot. NOT ONE PERSON ever returned her call from the church, including Kevin James the pastor!! We had to meet the funeral director on Friday at 12:30 PM to arrange plans for her service. When the director asked if the church had marked off the burial plot for them to dig the grave, we told him that still NO ONE had ever called us back. The director obtained the names & numbers of 2 people on the cemetery committee as well as Kevin Jame's cell number. He tried calling, attempting to reach someone, and NO ONE answered their phone, and GET THIS, when he called Kevin James the pastor, the recording said his mailbox was full and you couldn't leave a message!! The pastor of the church!! After continuous efforts we finally got in touch with someone on the cemetery committee who met us at the cemetery at 4:30. My sister and I both told him how unhappy we were. He apparently passed the message on to Kevin James, and he called my sister Saturday to supposedly offer his condolences (eye roll). My sister told him it was downright pathetic that NOT ONE person representing Salem, including him, called us to offer sympathy, condolences, use of the building, help, assistance, NOTHING!! We were not asking for nor needing anything, however, being a Southern Baptist Church you would think that we would at the least get a call to offer help if needed. My sister also told Kevin that the churches' inaction was literally a slap in her mother's face, serving for so many years in the church. I also told Kevin that I can see now why my mother did not want him to conduct her funeral service because the experience we had was a prime example, showing his and Salem's true colors. In closing, I can easily understand why many people don't attend church anymore. Some may argue saying "you should go to church for yourself", however, I believe most people wouldn't want to be around or associate with a "phony counterfeit christian", and believe me from our experience, Salem is loaded with them, starting with their pastor.
Carter Garnett read more
