ELBERTON, Ga. -- The 103-year-old woman who was kicked out of her life-long church last month in a dispute with her relatively new pastor now says the church has voted the pastor out, in order to welcome her back.
But she told 11Alive News on Thursday that the pastor is refusing to leave.
11Alive spoke with her at her home in Elberton.
It's all been an unexpected disruption to Genora Biggs and her routine, which had been peaceful, she says, up to now. She suddenly finds herself and her tiny church the focus of international concern and outrage.
In August, the pastor had the deacon and ten other church members sign a letter that they mailed to her home telling her they no longer consider her a member and to stay off of church property. Ms. Biggs says she and the pastor, the Rev. Tim Mattox, have been involved in a long-running dispute because she says he has been trying to change the church, Union Grove Baptist Church, to a different denomination.
She accuses Rev. Mattox of alienating other church members, as well, and making them leave, while inviting others who back him to join the church. He was hired, she says, about six years ago -- hired as a Baptist.
Biggs told 11Alive that she is sticking to her guns -- fighting back -- determined to remain a member of the church where she has been a member since she was 11 years old, and determined to keep it Baptist.
"Doesn't make me happy," she said. "Very, very unhappy."
She said that on Sunday, September 20, about 50 members who no longer attend every week -- either because of their own disputes with Mattox or because they've moved away -- returned and voted to remove Mattox, and appoint a 90-day interim pastor. Ms. Biggs' grandson, Elliot Dye, told 11Alive News that they all believed their vote on Sunday would override the eleven members who signed the letter that Mattox had them send to Ms. Biggs.
But Dye and Biggs say Mattox has now gone to court to dispute that vote.
It's a mess that she never dreamed she would ever face.
And yet the support she's been receiving from around the country has given her hope.
"I have been getting calls - every day, yeah," she said. "It makes me feel good."
Biggs taught first grade in Elbert County for 40 years. She and her family love their church, but most of her relatives have moved away. Her husband, Hoyt, died 15 years ago.
So the calls of support mean a lot. She said she is especially grateful to one caller.
"She called and told me stick to your guns," Biggs said. "I said that's what I'm trying to do."
And Thursday a man from the Tampa area, she says, someone she had never met, called and prayed with her.
11Alive has tried to reach Rev. Mattox for comment.
It's not clear what will happen Sunday, since Mattox still considers himself the pastor, and the interim pastor is also expected to be at the church.
Who's in charge? Genora Biggs says she'll be there ready to worship, as she has for 92 years. And she hopes it will all be resolved, once and for all, in time for her next birthday -- when she turns 104 in November.
