Pastor Marvin Winans has come under fire after scolding a church member for not giving the amount of money he asked for.
The bizarre moment, which was captured on video and has gone viral, showed Winans preaching during Detroit’s Perfecting Church’s “Day of Giving”, when he reportedly asked members to donate “$1,000 plus 1.”
As he continued to repeat the phrase, many members gave two separate $1,000 donations, but the woman in the now-viral clip gave a sum of $1,200.
“I’m giving in faith and standing in unity with the vision of Perfecting Church, sowing this seed of $1,000 plus $235 and receiving the blessings to come,” the woman, who has been identified as Roberta McCoy, said when she handed over her tithe.
But that wasn’t good enough for Winans, who told her in front of the congregation, “That’s only $1,200. Y’all not listening to what I’m saying. If you have a thousand plus a thousand.”
McCoy said she would work on the other $800, and Bishop Winans replied, “That ain’t what I asked you to do.”
His comments have sparked comments online, with many people saying that he humiliated her.
“This Pastor/Bishop does not belong in a leadership position in the church,” a Reddit user stated. “He should resign and make a public apology to the woman and her son. He needs to repent.”
“Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,” another Reddit user commented. “They should not be up there announcing what they have given in the first place. It is sad how this church seems to be led astray.”
McCoy has since defended Winans.
In an interview with WXYZ in Detroit, she said Winans scolded her for getting in line too early. Winans was asking those who would give $2,000 or more to come to the front first, with others following with smaller donations.
“He absolutely did not rebuke me. Now there’s a difference. There was a correction because let me clearly state that pastor gave instruction on the lines to get into,” McCoy said.
Winans told the local television station that he called people up by the donation amount to keep elders from standing up for too long.
“I was calling because the whole church was giving, and it was our day of giving, and the whole church was coming, and we didn’t want people standing, the mothers and all that, so I was calling them by increments,” Winans said.
He added, “We had someone that had given out of before, and I corrected it, and I told everybody to listen and come when you call, and that’s all that was.”
source: Premier Christian News