Pastor declares Mike Pence ‘one of the most persecuted Christians’ during vice president’s appearance at MLK celebration

This Sunday during an MLK celebration at the Holy City Church of God in Christ in Raleigh, Tennessee, where Vice President Mike Pence was in attendance, Bishop Vincent Mathews Jr. referred to Pence as "one of the “most persecuted Christians in America,” according to The Christian Post.

“One thing I love about this man of God ... is that he is one of the most persecuted Christians in America," Mathews Jr. said. "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."

In his speech to the 800-member congregation, Pence praised Dr. King as "one of the heroes of my youth."

Frankly, to be here in Memphis on this occasion, the city where he spent his last days, is deeply humbling to me. He left this world too soon. April 4th, 1968, at the age of 39,” Pence said.

While Mathews Jr. assured the audience that Pence wasn't in attendance as a campaign stunt, Pence nevertheless made sure to rattle off some of President Trump's policy goals, including the $250 million in annual funding to historically black colleges and universities permanent under federal law thanks to the Trump administration. As The Christian Post points out, parishioners of the Church of God in Christ are predominantly African American.