Beyonce‘s ‘Renaissance’ song ‘Church Girl’ may proclaim ‘no one can judge me but me,’ but Bishop Patrick Wooden, Sr., President and CEO of the Upper Room COGIC, begs to differ.
Not long after Dr. Dorinda Clark-Cole – one-fourth of the legendary Clark Sisters (whose 1981 song ‘Center of Thy Will’ is sampled in ‘Girl’) – took to the pulpit to tell religious critics to ‘leave Beyonce alone’ over the tune’s content, Wooden is making headlines for calling for public rebuke and denunciation of its creators and contributors.
Look inside to hear his fiery words.
In a clip that’s going viral, the Bishop took time from his sermon to wax honest on his thoughts about Bey’s ‘Church Girl’ – which currently sits at #22 on the Billboard Hot 100.
“Beyonce just released sacrilege,” he said of the ‘Renaissance’ song before suggesting the Pop megastar “sold her soul to the devil” and calling The Dream-produced tune a “piece of trash.”
His admonishment didn’t stop with Bey, however. He also set his sights on the Twinkie Clark, the lead singer of The Clark Sisters who penned the song that ‘Church Girl” samples.
“I don’t know whether [Twinkie] knew what [Beyonce] was going to do with the song or not, but [Twinkie] knows [Beyonce] isn’t saved,” he said of the 67-year-old. “I pray to God that a stiff denunciation of what she did with that song is put out.”
Just two weeks after Twinkie took to Twitter to thank Bey for using ‘Center of Thy Will’ as the base for the controversial tune (as we reported here), Wooden’s viral clip sees him publicly reprimand the Gospel legend.
“You can’t win the world enamored by them,” he relayed before mocking Twink’s message of gratitude by saying, “‘I’m just so proud that somebody wants to use my music.’ What do you mean? You’re one of the best in the world.”
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Needless to say, the sermon ruffled the feathers of Clark Sister and Beyonce fans (affectionately called #Beyhive) alike. Look below for highlights of their responses.
As of time reported, Bey nor the Clarks have issued a statement in response.