A church group from El Dorado County and a controversial minister from Los Angeles on Sunday protested outside mayoral candidate Kevin Johnson's church, saying he should be cast out of his congregation for opposing Proposition 8, the initiative to ban gay marriage.
Saying Johnson wasn't "a good Christian," the protesters waited for congregants of St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church in Oak Park to emerge from the Sunday morning service to tell them not to vote for Johnson in the Nov. 4 election.
While Johnson has said he believes "marriage is between a man and a woman," he came out against the ballot measure "because it would write discrimination into the state constitution."
The candidate was out of town Sunday, but his campaign manager, Steve Maviglio, said, "It's an all-time low in Sacramento politics when you protest at someone's place of worship. Kevin is a man of faith and he doesn't believe in discriminating against anyone."
Johnson's Election Day rival, incumbent Heather Fargo, also opposes Proposition 8.
The protesters said Sacramentans shouldn't vote for either candidate in the mayoral run-off. Instead, they said voters should register their protest by offering a write-in candidate.
The group brought in the Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, who founded the Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny in Los Angeles. He angered several members of Johnson's church when he asked them to force Johnson out.
"There's no way you can be a man of God and go against the family that has been ordained by God," Peterson said.
While most congregants ignored the protesters, several saw the protest as an act of disrespect against their church. "I have a hard time believing the spirit of God led you here," one man said.
Another woman shouted at the group from her car.
Two Sacramento County sheriff's deputies monitored the protest, which remained peaceful.
The 15 protesters included members of the Church of the Divide near Placerville, which has taken a stand against homosexuality. Some of the protesters were from Sacramento County.
Peterson, who hosts radio and Internet-streamed talk shows, previously stirred conflict by writing in 2005 that some black New Orleans residents abused government relief programs after Hurricane Katrina.
Call The Bee's Matt Weiser, (916) 321-1264.
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