An American bishop has called Mike Pence one of the most persecuted Christians in the US, at a Martin Luther King (MLK) celebration on Sunday.
Bishop Vincent Mathews Jr is the world missions’ president of Church of God in Christ, a predominantly African American Pentecostal church network with over 5million members.
Vice President Pence was attending an MLK event at the Holy City Church of God in Christ in Raleigh, Tennessee when Bishop Vincent made the comments, according to Christianity Today.
Addressing the 800 strong congregation, he said: “One thing I love about this man of God… is that he is one of the most persecuted Christians in America.
“The biggest criticism that he gets all over television and everywhere else is that he actually believes the Bible. They hate him for believing the Bible.”
Following Matthews introduction Pence delivered a speech focused on the legacy of Dr Martin Luther King Jr and the Trump administration’s plans to ensure King’s desire for all to have access to the American Dream is fulfilled.
“Dr King was one of the heroes of my youth,” Pence told the church.
“As Dr King said in his Letter from Birmingham Jail, ‘One day the South will know that when these disinherited children of God sat down at lunch counters they were in reality standing up for what’s best in the American dream and for the most sacred values of our Judeo-Christian heritage,’” Pence added.
Pence went on to attribute Martin Luther King’s impact as an “American leader” to his faith in God: “Throughout my life, what has inspired me most about his example was that he [was] first and foremost a man of faith. A minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, a workman approved rightly able to handle the word of truth.”