Pulling up to the Revoice Conference, I saw a group of volunteers in matching Revoice t-shirts standing at the entrance. I approached and was asked by several of them (yes, several of them – at the same time) if I had registered. I asked to use the restroom (it was a long drive) and they hesitantly allowed me to step into the foyer, telling me, “Come right back here when you are done.” One waited by the door.
After going back out to my vehicle to retrieve my Go-Pro (in case things got excitable), I explained to the door patrol that I was with the press and asked to speak to a conference organizer. A woman asked my name, as she ushered in a pizza delivery guy, and then asked the name of my publication before calling “the executive committee.”
One volunteer who overheard my name and publication went out of his way to tell me that he was a PCA pastor and that he was here for the same reason I was, which was to love people. He said he disagreed with everything that had been written about Revoice thus far because the conference hadn’t even happened yet. I explained that most of what I have read about Revoice was written about from the promotional material Revoice itself had published.
The female coordinator returned and told me that the executive committee said they would not speak to me or anyone else in the press. I asked if I could get let in just to observe or take a picture, and she said, “We are very strict. Only those with registrations are allowed past the door.” I noted that she let the pizza delivery guy in a moment before. She shrugged.
The PCA pastor called for “backup” to the front entrance from his walkie. I wanted to leave before “backup” arrived in their matching t-shirts.
I was very politely asked to leave and so I politely left. But first, I asked the PCA pastor to have a conversation with me on the way to my vehicle. I told him the conversation would be off the record, unless he said otherwise, and I just wanted to ask some questions about his personal views. The woman interrupted us and said, “The executive committee has asked that none of our volunteers speak to you or any member of the press.”
I politely left, while watching two very effeminate men embrace each other with a hug and kiss on the cheek before they sashayed into the building.
https://www.facebook.com/pulpitandpen/videos/1894418963955199/
