A church in Texas is facing criticism after setting up a tattoo parlor in the lobby and giving out tattoos during their Palm Sunday service.
StoneWater Church is a multi-site megachurch with seven locations. Led by Pastor Jeremy White, the church recently held a service on Palm Sunday emphasizing one’s identity in Christ.
To drive the point home, they introduced Spencer Williamson of In Depth Tattoos, revealing that he had already been tattooing some of the church staff before the service started.
White lamented that Williamson didn’t have time to tattoo everybody, so he invited congregants with artistic ability to stand. Once they did, the church passed out Sharpie markers to these talented members, telling them:
We’re going to give you a marker. We’re about to sing a song of worship at all of our campuses. And I’m gonna ask you to volunteer for five to 15 minutes and draw crosses on people’s arms if they would like you to.
To the congregants he encouraged:
If you’d like to go get a tattoo, why don’t you just move to the aisles? Go ahead and move to the aisles. There you go. Move to the aisles…if anybody’d like to get a true artistic cross, you’re welcome to go to them. Or if you want just a simple one, you could draw it yourself. Okay, no big deal.”
