By John McCann

jmccann@heraldsun.com; 419-6601

DURHAM — The Bible talks about forgiveness.

That’s what this story is about — whether the folks on both sides of some church history in Granville County can bring themselves to bury their hatchets.

Two area men claimed they won’t rest until they know they can go to their graves with more peace than they have now about a situation stemming from a matter regarding their final resting places.

Durham’s Joe Green and Creedmoor’s James Moore were part of a successful class-action lawsuit filed in 2008 in Granville County against some people affiliated with Pine Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Creedmoor.

In particular, Moore and Green have issues with the church’s pastor, the Rev. Larry L. McElroy Sr. They said McElroy didn’t honor burial agreements in place before he became pastor in 1996. They believe the agreements allowed Pine Grove members to pay $100 a plot to the church to secure burial spaces at Pine Grove Memorial Garden Cemetery behind the church.

But Green and his wife were told after their son died that it would cost several hundred dollars extra to bury him in the cemetery.

Creedmoor’s William and Nevie Lyon, also plaintiffs in the lawsuit, were told they’d have to pay more before William’s deceased brother could be buried there.

McElroy, who lives in Durham, said the agreements meant the $100 reserved someone’s right to be buried in the cemetery. Some Pine Grove members still active in the church also agreed that $100 simply held a spot in the graveyard and didn’t cover all burial costs.

“Where can you buy a plot for $100?” asked Guffie Green, a church member who is not related to Joe Green.

But Superior Court Judge Henry Hight Jr. earlier this year declared the matter a breach of contract and ordered the church to pay each of those families $900. Hight ruled that the other plaintiffs in the lawsuit could be buried in the cemetery with no additional fees beyond what it costs to open and close the graves. And the judge decreed that all of the plaintiffs except for the Lyons were still members of Pine Grove despite having their names purged from the church roll.

‘I’ll never go back …’

But Moore’s said he’s not setting foot in that church — not as long as McElroy’s the pastor.

Never mind that Moore, 85, became a member in the 1930s. Never mind the repairs and construction he did at Pine Grove. Moore said he built a wheelchair ramp and fixed the steeple, among other projects.

And never mind that Moore has family members buried in the cemetery.

“I’ll never go back as long as he’s there,” Moore said about McElroy. “Because he’s no good.”

Pine Grove members said Moore’s work around the church wasn’t on the house. Moore is known for his homebuilding projects in Granville County, and he applied those skills to fix up the church, they said. But Moore was paid for that work, church members said.

“I didn’t get a dime for labor,” Moore insisted. The church just paid for the materials, he said.

And Moore and Green said their hang-ups with the pastor go beyond the grave issue. Another complaint is that McElroy didn’t come forward about his criminal record before he was hired as pastor.

Documentation from the Department of Corrections in Virginia indicates McElroy in 1985 was convicted in the Lynchburg Circuit Court of common-law burglary with the intent to commit a felony and sexual battery, according to Virginia Department of Corrections records. He was given jail time. McElroy also incurred a probation violation for smoking marijuana.

But McElroy wasn’t preaching in anybody’s church when he found himself on the wrong side of the law, Pine Grove members said. McElroy pointed out that back then serving God was the furthest thing from his mind.

People change, though, and “the only thing I was concerned about was what he’s done since he’s been a pastor,” said Pine Grove member Rose Green. She’s not related to Joe Green, either.

‘I’m just tired of it’

McElroy was hired to replace a pastor who retired.

Moore, Green and others were angry after their choice didn’t make the cut, active Pine Grove members said.

Church membership dwindled considerably after McElroy took over, Moore and Green said. At least 85 people have left the church, Moore said. Some were kicked out, Green said.

Current Pine Grove members said nobody was kicked out. Folks’ feelings got hurt, and those people left on their own, active members said.

Both Joe Green and Moore said they expect to be buried in the Pine Grove cemetery.

And while Moore is open to going back to the church if McElroy leaves, Green said no way.

Joe Green and Moore said the $26,000 it cost to litigate this matter was worth it to get some rest about their final resting places.

Yet the Bible talks about forgiveness.

That’s what this story is about.

McElroy said the door is open for Moore and Green and the rest to come back to the church if they change their attitudes. But some in the pastor’s flock expressed reservation.

“I’m going to be honest with you — I ain’t gon’ welcome them back,” said Rose Green, who has four decades invested in Pine Grove. “I know you have to forgive.

“I’m just tired of it,” she said.

Minnie B. Lyon — no relation to the Lyon family in the lawsuit — said the Bible speaks of watching and praying.

So “I would accept them with reservation,” said Lyon, 87. “But I would be watching.”

Edward Riddick said he’d welcome the former members if they returned having let go of the idea that they have to control the church.

“If you gave them a million dollars a piece it wouldn’t satisfy them, because they want to take over the church,” Minnie B. Lyon said.

“They tried to get me not to join — right up under that tree,” recalled Lucious Green, who also pointed out that Joe Green is not his kin. “No related, brother.”

Now, Moore suggested he could refute anything McElroy and his people claimed.

Still, the Bible talks about forgiveness.

That’s what this story is about.