from Bristol Herald Courier
Family Scuffles, Pastor Says Jeans a Demon
BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) - When scuffling sisters brought their family squabble into the Assemblies of Jesus Church, the preacher says the devil came, too. The Rev. Clarence June Love was just about to begin his Sunday service to a congregation of less than a dozen on Jan. 9, when sisters Reba Storey, 46, and Mary Steele, 64, entered the hall to talk to their 88-year-old mother, Maude Yates.
The sisters claim they wanted to tell their mother that Storey was going to have surgery. They say they came to church because another sister, 69-year-old Rosa Harrison, who is also the preacher's girlfriend, won't let them see Yates, who lives in a nursing home.
But what caught Love's eye when the sisters entered his church were their blue jeans - forbidden for women in some Pentecostal churches. The 83-year-old preacher came down from his pulpit.
"You're not wearing pants in my church, you demon," Storey claimed the preacher said. "I said, 'I'm glad I serve a God who can work through my pants.'"
That's when, according to Storey, Love allegedly grabbed her and hustled her to the door.
"He said, 'I got all the demons out of my church, and I want you out,'" she said. "I said, 'I don't believe you've got all the demons out yet.'"
Love called the police. Storey and Steele turned themselves in, then filed charges against Harrison and Love.
Now all of them face assault charges. General Sessions Judge Bill Watson said he hoped to deal with the case Friday after spending all his time Wednesday just finding lawyers for everyone.
"It's a family feud," Storey said.
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