Pastor Steven J. White, of Grace Baptist Church in Newton is taking heat for mimicking the accent of a South Asian security guard, whom he says is a friend, during a recent sermon.
SURREY – It seems like South Asians can go seek the lord Jesus but those hawking his message are gonna still treat them as second class faithful and mock their thick accents.
That’s what a white Surrey pastor whose last name is also apparently “White” did this week as he was caught using a thick Indian accent to describe one of his followers during a live stream of the sermon.
Pastor Steven J. White, of Grace Baptist Church in Newton is taking heat for mimicking the accent of a South Asian security guard, whom he says is a friend, during a recent sermon.
Krishan Mayer, a South Asian member of Grace Baptist Church who is not the security guard, told Surrey Leader-Now newspaper that he is seeking an apology to the South Asian community of Surrey “and beyond.”
“He was mimicking his accent and his mannerisms and it really looked stupid and I was offended as an Indian person myself, as a South Asian person myself,” said Mayer, who says he has been a member of the congregation for more than six years.
Mayer said he watched a live broadcast of the sermon on Sunday, June 27. He noted the segment in question has since been redacted from the sermon video posted on the church’s website, reported Leader-Now.
“My goal ultimately is to hold somebody accountable for their actions, right, and this coming from a pastor, to me, is completely inappropriate, especially in the kind of world we live in today, right,” Mayer said.
White was contacted by the Leader-Now but did not return repeated requests for comment on Friday.
