By Michal Ortner
Sunday afternoon, Mt. Calvary Baptist Church members congregated for a prayer meeting and welcomed members of the community to join them. Concerned community members gathered to pray over the emergence of The Social Club — a club for swingers. Swingers are those with multiple s*xual partners.
The meeting took place in the Fine Arts Center of Goodpasture Christian School. The auditorium was filled with church leaders and their congregants. Sandy McClain, Mt. Calvary Baptist Church’s pastor, led out the prayer meeting in an appeal to the community.
“We have come together, all denominations, all races, for one cause — that Madison is a great community, and that we can keep it that way,” McClain said.
Around 200 concerned citizens gathered at the Christian school auditorium to lift up the situation in prayer. The newly-founded swingers club meets only a short distance down the road at 700 Division St. at a local business.
The group specifically prayed that the Madison, TN city officials would place a ban on these types of club meeting in the business district. Madison City Council was scheduled to meet on Tuesday.
“Madison is a great area, but I believe Madison is the tip of the iceberg,” McClain said. “If this element can come into our community, it can come into other communities. What is to stop if from next coming into Bellevue or Belle Meade?”
“Every child needs a s*x education,” Buck Dozier, an elder from Madison Church of Christ, explained. “It’s not a matter of if they are going to get one. It’s about who’s going to give it to them. We are asking these consenting adults to take this club away themselves.”
Many of the church leaders, including Pastor Tim Baines of Madison Christian Church, shared that it is their responsibility to stand up in opposition to the swingers club and their “sinful” acts.
Bill Beck, Tennessee State Rep., has proposed legislation to place a ban on private clubs and organizations so that they cannot meet within 1,000 feet of schools, churches, and residences. Larry Roberts, the attorney for the Social Club, says that they will take legal action if the ban is approved.
