Faked Church Sign Creates Internet Buzz, Sparks Calls
Pastor Curtis Barbery points to the church’s sign Thursday morning.
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Even a small Baptist church on a country road in Moore County can be a victim of the viral Internet.
A photo purporting to show Beulah Hill Baptist Church’s sign on the entertainment website TMZ sparked a flood of calls.
In the picture — beneath Pastor Curtis Barbery’s name and times for Sunday School and worship services — it looks as if somebody put up one of the messages frequently used on such signs. It capitalized on wide interest in the birth of singer Beyonce Knowles’ and rapper Jay-Z’s baby.
“Beyonce Had Her Baby, Satan Is on Earth,” it proclaimed in capital letters.
Barbery said he told TMZ the picture wasn’t real. According to TMZ, Barbery said when the church discovered the vandalism, it removed it immediately. He said the picture must have been “Photoshopped,” as many such signs have been — computer-doctored to create a false image.
TMZ insisted Barbery told it the sign had been defaced. The site is standing by its story.
How the picture came to be — and TMZ won’t say who sent it in — links to it “went viral,” spreading rapidly. Phones at the church and at Barbery’s High Falls home rang constantly.
“People who don’t know the nature of the church and don’t know about me were calling,” Barbery, who has a doctoral degree from Gardner-Webb, said Thursday morning. “They don’t know what to believe, you know.”
The church, on Beulah Hill Church Road between Pinehurst and Robbins, was built in the late 1800s. Barbery describes it as a traditional, conservative Baptist church that has changed little over the years other than recent improvements to the building.
“We just remodeled it, inside and out,” Barbery said. “It really looks good now.”
The sign often bears a message, but never anything like this.
“We have a nice billboard out front, and we put slogans on it,” he said. “We had one — it was put on there Thanksgiving — one you’ve heard a thousand times: ‘Jesus is the reason for the season.’ I told them to take it down last (Wednesday) night.”
Barbery has been telling news media that Satan wasn’t that woman’s baby and that Satan was here long before. He said he didn’t recognize the name Beyonce at first.
“I honestly didn’t know who the woman was,” Barbery said, laughing. “I said, ‘Well, we don’t have anybody by that name. Even close to this church, I don’t know anybody by that name. Furthermore, I don’t know anybody around here has had a baby lately.’ Then, I happened to think about seeing something about it on TV lately. Now, if you’d asked me something about ‘Gunsmoke’ and Marshal Dillon, I could have told you.”
Barbery, who is in his late 70s, comes from an earlier generation than the Internet. He served Beulah Baptist Church in High Falls for 41 years, and only came to Beulah Hill to fill in. That was five years ago, and he’s still there.
“The sign did upset some of our members,” he said. “They put something about this movie star’s baby being born and Satan had entered the Earth. I was happy she had a baby, and there was nothing wrong with her baby. I pray God’s blessings on her and her baby. Our church wasn’t in the business — and neither was I — in condemning people, but converting and helping people.”
He said the version on the Internet was a fake photo and that nobody vandalized the sign. He said that would be hard to do, because it stays locked.
“It stays locked, and only one man has the key,” Barbery said. “He hasn’t been back any since Thanksgiving. What they did on the Internet is covered that slogan we had with their slogan. At the top it shows Beulah Hill Baptist Church, and then it shows what they put on there.”
The spoofed sign has had one effect on Beulah Hill Baptist Church. It’s been filling pews ever since.
“One thing for sure, it has been some advertising,” Barbery said. “I went to church last night — on Wednesday night we have supper and prayer meeting — and the church was packed full. I am looking for it to be packed full Sunday morning.”
He is taking his sermon theme from the fake sign and preaching about the work of the devil.
“I told them to change the sign,” he said, chuckling. “I told them to put on it, “Satan! Who He Is and What He Does.’ I am going to preach on that, Sunday morning.”
Contact John Chappell at jfchappell@gmail.com.
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Comments
clbvpm 2 months ago
I know Dr. Barbery personally. He is a great man and would do nothing like this. He has traveled and preached God's love all over the world including India, the Ukraine, Israel and other countries. He has served as president of the NC Baptist Pastor's Association, on boards at Gardner Webb University, Campbell University and Fruitland Bible College where he also served as interim president. He certainly is not into the Hollywood scene and would not know who Beyonce or Jay Z are. He does enjoy his westerns. Any hate calls he received from this incident were certainly uncalled for.
Beulah Hill is a fine church where people treat you as family. They show God's love to all they meet, To do this to this church is certainly incomprehensible. They would welcome anyone into their church, including Beyonce and Jay Z.
The incident most lively occurred when someone from Hollywood researched the name Beulah Hill Baptist Church via the Internet. Beulah Hill being the name of the church in Beyonce's movie, and chose this particular church to use in their in their stunt.
WRAL and Brian Mimms certainly researched the situation thoroughly and included the link to a website that generates false church signs when they covered the story. http://www.says-it.com/churchsigns/
The people involved in this cruel prank didn't deserve this and I hope it proves to be a blessing in disguise for Dr. Barbery and Beulah Hill Baptist Church. They are in our prayers.
djcalaska 2 months ago
Just an example of how gullible and how easy people can be led without real facts. Congratulations on the full church!!
RD28327 2 months ago
WRAL is losing it's credibility as a news source, especially if they consider TMZ.com a respectable media outlet. I consider TMZ.com the internet's version of the National Enquirer. I bet WTVD and NBC 17 are laughing like crazy since they did not fall for this ruse by TMZ.com, and WRAL did. It's amazing all the things that can be done with Photoshop. It's amazing what idiots can do with certain software programs.
Hembloche 2 months ago
Hmm. I'd say the idiots are the ones who immediately believe anything they see on the internet.
RD28327 2 months ago
But, you wonder what these folks who produced the photo of the doctored sign were trying to accomplish. You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.
Hembloche 2 months ago
They accomplished exactly what they were trying. Someone noticed them and made it a bigger deal than it should've been. We and many others are talking about them and what they did which is exactly what they wanted.
clbvpm 2 months ago
@RD28327 While WRAL did cover this story, they did not fall for this ruse. They shared the link on their website to show how this was done. http://www.says-it.com/churchsigns/ They knew it was a fake. In fact, Brian Mimms told Dr. Barbery all about how it was photoshopped.
RD28327 2 months ago
I say there's a lot more important news WRAL needs to cover than this horse manure. WTVD and NBC 17 were smart enough not to waste their time with this crap.
clbvpm 2 months ago
@RD28327 I definitely agree that there is more important news than covering TMZ trash. My point is that the church and pastor have encountered hate calls. WRAL coverage and showing how this can be done, may have prevented a more serious outcome to the situation.
Yukonjohn 2 months ago
I chuckled when I read about this, but how cool is it that now the pews will be full!! Wow, God DOES work in mysterious ways! I think this story is having a perfect ending. The stupid photoshopped sign is taken down, the church's pews are full, and the message of love is getting out to many. Best Wishes to all.
im_a_harleyman 2 months ago
"the church's pews are full"
Why would that be?
clbvpm 2 months ago
@Yukonjohn - indeed God does work in mysterious ways and the outcome is turning positive and the message of God's love is getting out there. Unfortunately, TMZ still has the picture and story on both their website and Facebook page and people are still reading and commenting on the story, some good, some bad.
clbvpm 2 months ago
@ im_a_harleyman - At the church service on Wednesday night, the church was full. The story broke on Wednesday. The people were not outsiders, but church members and friends of the church. I understand the service carried on as usual after the first few minutes of comments concerning this.
justmyopinion 2 months ago
clbvpm- That is good to hear. Churches need to be full these days.
cookie 2 months ago
1-The preacher's statements between TMZ ,The Pilot and The Fayetteville paper conflict, numerously. Check it out. #2- WHY would a church only have ONE key to something that is
locked? NOT. #3- CNN shows one side of the sign and this picture above shows the other.
4- I know when I passed the church both sides did not say the same thing. "Beyonce had
her baby" was on one side and "Jesus is the reason for the season" was on the other. I CANNOT say that I read "Satan is on Earth" because of the moving car. My husband recalls me commenting as we passed. Didn't think another thing of it until now. It was not photoshopped. Everyone is defending something that they did not see, I know what I saw. And as for knowing this preacher..... yea I know him. I'll just leave it at that.
Yukonjohn 2 months ago
@cookie, Interesting.
We have a church, Bible Baptist, here in Fairbanks. They have a sign like this and are forever putting VERY provacative messages on it. To me, that is their right, but they have had several instances where people would come on Sunday and during service, interrput the pastor and shout horrible, profain things. This is also someone's right, I guess. If you are correct, and this pastor is...well, not telling the truth, Katie bar the door. I hope it is as the article depicts it to be. I am sure if it is not...there are others that have seen it differentlyl.
cookie 2 months ago
I think another comment like this of mine will post again. I think I hit it twice. Oops. Not to mention the awkerdness of the font. :/
Anyway, It's horrible that the church you're referring to has to experience an interuption of free worship such as that. I didn't see anyone do the physical act so I cannot accuse anyone. I'm only saying two things: 1- the preacher contradicts himself, which is not out of the ordinary, and 2- I'm reading all these posts from people accusing or defending and no one ever saw it. I actually saw it. God will take care of whomever did it. It could have been just a prank, or a malicious act, or there could have had an ulterior motive.
cantstandya 2 months ago
With all the TV preachers asking to have people send in love offering for a bottle of miracle water that will cure any ailment one has or to feed a child in a distant country starving,or that without their support the word of God will not reach millions,the whole time they get tax deductions and live the life in luxury preying on the people that fall for that nonsense yet this is never exposed by the media and has gone on long before and continues today after the fall of Tammy Faye and Jim Bakker,who by the way is back on selling doomsday food packages for when we get hit by a nuclear bomb,this incident on this sign is almost funny that it received so much attention.
JohnChappell 2 months ago
“Cookie” -- please email or phone me for an interview about what you saw, and when you saw it, if you don't mind.
im_a_harleyman 2 months ago
I imagine there are a few posters here that are feeling pretty stupid right about now!
lkivett 2 months ago
:)
CurtisFan 2 months ago
I do not understand IF the sign was computer-generated and not real, why anybody had to remove anything??? What I am taking away from the different medias on this story, is that the lettering inside one side of that sign was tampered with. I also do not understand why TMZ cannot release the name of the submitter. The background, letter size and size of white panels in the TMZ seem to match the church's real sign. Make no mistake: THE PASTOR HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THAT RIDICULOUS MESSAGE
Bulldog 2 months ago
No brainer, the fonts are different. Go to tmz.com and search "Baptist Church Beyonce" then compare the two - see the Ss and the Rs. I'll bet Cookie won't call Mr. Chappell. Maybe Cookie knows photoshop.
javajunkie 2 months ago
I agree with Bulldog...cookie is no smart cookie........Mr. Chappell better not hold his breathe waiting for an interview with her.
CurtisFan- TMZ is nothing but a gossip tabloid...they are complete trash and I'm sure a majority of their stories are fabricated lies, as this one is. You are right, the Pastor had NOTHING to do with this picture of the church sign being photo-shopped. I have a feeling "cookie" knows more than she's letting on...
Oh, and seems "cookie" is posting as "thomas" on TMZ....same old song and dance with his/her lies.
clbvpm 2 months ago
Sure don't feel stupid...At least I am smart enough to know TMZ tells lies and lies usually do conflict with the truth.---My eyes are good enough to see the difference in the fonts AND last but not least, both side of the sign said "Jesus is the reason for the season". After all the picture on the Pilot site is one side, the picture on WRAL is the other side and the picture that TMZ has was generated, possibly by Cookie.http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/10587986/
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/10587986/
im_a_harleyman 2 months ago
yes - of course you are right..............snicker
Willowlake 2 months ago
Many thanks to those defending our church. The sign NEVER had that message posted. It is all a lie! Yes, our church was FULL after this story was released any there are many people out there that were hoping it would destroy our church, but guess what, the devil didn't win and neither did those people!!!
clbvpm 2 months ago
@ Willowlake - don't go there, but have visited in the past. I know this is not true. And am so happy God is using this in a postive way.
clbvpm 2 months ago
@ Cookie - comments on Facebook pages can be seen by several people depending on the priivacy setting you have. You might want to change yours. Your comment did not go unnoticed. I know you deleted it rather rapidly, but not before several people saw it and it was copied and pasted...for future reference...so we know who you are.
clbvpm 1 month, 4 weeks ago
@ Cookie - You are also wrong on this account - You are not the only one to see the sign....hundundreds did as they passed it each day, it is a heavily traveled road, and it said "Jesus is the reason for the season.". Funny, you are the only one to see it "the other way".
Beth 1 month, 4 weeks ago
Cookie, please talk to Mr. Chappell. I've heard of another who saw that sign but is apparently afraid to come forward.
clbvpm 1 month, 4 weeks ago
@ Beth - your friend needs to join Cookie at the eye doctor. WRAL showed one side of the sign as evidenced by the positioning of the pastor's name and the Pilot showed the other side of the sign. Both read "Jesus is the reson for the Season.
cookie 1 month, 4 weeks ago
@clvbpm- I deleted my comments on FB to try to keep my friend out of it. What you did and why I don't know./ No, I didn't take the pic. A friend from out of town saw it on the news & called. When I saw it & commented how dumb it was to my husband was before TMZ ever posted it. I spoke to what we thought was a long time, trustworthy friend of the church about it, hoping they would believe us. Those that know us may think we're lying, and may think they know why, but those that truly know us,know we wouldn't say it if it weren't true. I don't understand why so many people are defending something that they never saw. Whatever happened, Whomever did it, if you truly believe in God's judgement, then let God take care of it. If it honestly was vandelism, then just say it was and go on with your worship. Stop trying so hard to constantly defend somethting you honestly DO NOT know what happened unless you get a police investigation.
cookie 1 month, 4 weeks ago
Whoa!!! This is WAY out of hand!!
Everyone look back at your posts. If you claim to be Christian then you sure aren't acting like it. And if you don't claim a faith, you're just being plain uncivil.
No call for personal, immature attacks.
This whole thing is taking over your mind. Just let it go!
javajunkie 1 month, 4 weeks ago
cookie...it obviously has taken over YOUR mind...you need to let it go and quit insisting you saw something that was never there. Maybe a police investigation is a good idea....tell them who your long time-trustworthy friend of the church is and let's get to the bottom of this. Or are you worried you will be found out? If you really want this lie to be over why are you on every tabloid and newspaper that ran this story stirring the pot and trying to make the church look bad? If your goal is to make Beulah Hill look like a church full of terrible people then congratulations, mission accomplished, today our service was held under police protection.
cookie 1 month, 4 weeks ago
OMG Junkie, let it go!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seems like you're name has been on here more than mine, speaking or sturring things up. And WHAT would I be "found out" about? I didn't do anything!! I just said it was there. "Beyonce had her baby" I read nothing else because of the moving car. I'm NOT accusing the church!! The fact that it was there DOES NOT mean they are responsible. Why are YOU spending every second trying to defend? Are you a member? If so I'd be ashamned to admit it the way you're talking to me. I can't believe that someting this stupid has caused this much drama that "christians" are personally attacking me. You don't know me so stop judging and leave me alone! Calling me a liar is not going to prove anything other than show unchristians how "christians" act. Please leave me alone.
Bulldog 1 month, 4 weeks ago
ok cookie, what does your statement above mean?- "And as for knowing this preacher.... yea I know him. I'll just leave it at that". That reveals your motive for making this story up. You have something against Reverend Barbery. It's a concocted story because the fonts are clearly different!!!!! I think you need to get down on your knees and ask God to forgive you. As for Curtis Barbery, he preaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ and doesn't compromise. He's also a fine man who very obviously loves his Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ very very much.
cookie 1 month, 4 weeks ago
OMG The font is messed up, I don't know why. I tried fixing it several times and couldn't so I just posted it. It was explanied in my next post. Someone else falsely judging me. It doesn't matter anymore WHAT you or I believe does it? Really? Really? This whole drama is crazy!! I'm frankly sick of it. Why does anyone care anymore? If you believe it wasn't there, then do the right thing and quit condeming me and go to church, and you get on your knees and pray as well, yes for me too, cause I'm sick of people who claim to be christians acting like this. The people of the church spend all this time defending their reputation but personally attacking me and calling me ugly name says a lot for your church as well don't you think? Will everyone just please leave me alone? Please!!
javajunkie 1 month, 4 weeks ago
I believe the "FONT" Bulldog is speaking of are the font's on the REAL sign and the photo shopped TMZ sign. They are clearly different! Put both together and you will see! Yes, the people of this church are defending themselves and their Pastor....and will continue to do so. By the way, this is my third post.
CurtisFan 1 month, 4 weeks ago
This is my story, this is my song The fonts are different All the day long!!!! Font comparison tells the tale. There was nothing to take down. But it was assumed there was.
I sure hope the generator of this whole MESS gets exactly what is coming to him/her!
God's wheels of justice grind slow, but they grind HARD
cookie 1 month, 4 weeks ago
Instead of continuing to post this junk, if you know who I am, then message me. I'll talk to you personally.
cookie 1 month, 4 weeks ago
It's too late to be cotinuing this nonsense. I'm so done with you guys. You are so immature. So unchristain like. If you love your church and pastor like you say you do then WHY are you acting this way and representing both of them like this? You should probably think about that. Talk about God Judging. Take the log out of your own eye!! And no need posting a responce because I'm not reading anymore. This is so out of hand it's ridiculous!! You guys need to go find someting else to do. Let it go already!!!!!!!!!! You are worse than children.