Pastor Keion Henderson has a word for people who were outraged that he told a woman to “hush” during worship.
The Lighthouse Church founder has been at the center of viral debate after a video surfaced of him snapping his finger and declaring a parishioner to be quiet amid her ongoing wails.
“Shh, hey, stop it. Hush, hush,” he told the woman, whose disruptive screaming drew attention to her and away from praising the Most High.
The Pastor further reiterated his direct message when he said, “Silence in the name of Jesus. The only voice I want heard is his.”
On May 7, he joined his wife, Shaunie Henderson, ex-wife of Shaquille O’Neal, for her appearance on the “Tamron Hall” show, where he addressed the mixed reactions to his intervention.
“Social media’s into cuts, not context, and every suggestion that I got from every naysayer, I’ve already done,” Henderson began, seemingly hitting back at users who said a better course of action would have been to handle the matter privately.
He also confirmed what some people said about the woman having a lengthy history of that type of behavior.
pastor keion henderson shh someone for praises God too loud pic.twitter.com/OvAxcC4Uow
— Black AF News (@blackafnews) May 5, 2024
“This is a four-year battle, right. This is ongoing,” he told Hall, adding, “So I’ve already talked to her personally; I’d already had ushers go up to her; I’ve already had prayer warriors; I’ve had everything, so she did it publicly after being asked not to.”
He continued, “As a pastor, I know the difference between disturbance and worship and what people have to understand, what people have to understand is that every time you hear noises in the church it isn’t worship.”
Further, Henderson backed up the spirit-led hush as he explained, “There has to be order. For instance, it’s OK to applaud in this room right now but if somebody just got up and started clapping right now, I’m sure somebody would bring order to the room. And so what I did is I brought order to the room so people can hear God and not her, and I’ll do it again if I needed to.”
Once again, there were a range of reactions, but just like those observed regarding the viral clip, he was met with an abundance of support.
“Anyone who has been to a black church regularly, knows it’s ALWAYS that ONE!” wrote an Instagram user. Someone else said, “He ain’t wrong she need to S T F U.”
A third individual applauded the religious leader when they commented, “Standing on holy business. Man said ‘I ll do it again.’”
However, at least one person expressed displeasure with the public handling of the woman as well as the pastor’s equally public defense of himself.
“Ok… now atp i would leave the church … bc why are u on tv talking about me? lol why not bring the lady on ? Nobody wants to hear her side? … now this is too much! I’m sorry,” read the criticism.
Shaunie not only shown has her support for her husband but laughed at the outrage. The couple of almost four years tied the knot in 2022. She discusses more about their union and her past with Shaq in her new book, “Undefeated: Changing the Rules and Winning on My Own Terms.”
