A statement on the church’s website (which is now back up) gives a more complete list of the things to be burned:

Did you see it in the list??? SOUTHERN GOSPEL!!! And if you follow the internal Southern Gospel link on the website, it takes you to this additional information:

The website also singles out Joel Hemphill, The Anchormen, and The Crab Family as examples of what it calls “Ungodly Southern Gospel.”

The few Southern Gospel artists with whom I’ve spoken were all aware of this “news item” and none agreed with the effort. All expressed concern that our industry could be seen as connected to this kind of thinking. One artist, who happens to live within “smoke smelling” distance of the event, commented in LOL format, “Hmmm. I see they’re having chicken and barbecue–I wonder if they need a bluegrass band.”

In another response, a reader of a local newspaper, The Asheville Citizen-Times, wrote:

“I was happy to read that the Halloween book and music burning at Canton’s Amazing Grace Baptist Church will be accompanied by barbequed chicken and all the sides. After all, there is nothing like the smell of well-cooked satanic influences to whet one’s appetite.

However, the item did not say whether or not the chicken will be barbequed in the book fire itself; and, if so, whether the celebrants would unknowingly be ingesting the evil spirits of modern bibles and country music.

That might be counter-productive.”

Cliff Yudell, Asheville

Hey, I’m just giving out the information, fair and balanced. “You decide.” Does this news affect Southern Gospel?