Black Pastor, 63, Defends Marriage To 19-Year-Old In Resurfaced Video; Netizens Call It 'Grooming'
Netizens reacted to a resurfaced video of Bishop Dwight Reed threatening those against his marriage to a woman 44 years younger than him.
Last week, Instagram user @theneighborhoodtalk posted a video of the Black minister talking on the pulpit defending his marriage, saying: "I wish some of you all who would mess with my wife Jordan talk about what you're going to do if you see her... You better walk by and say, 'Praise the Lord.' That's what you better do."
"'Cause that's my wife. She's grown. She didn't need [anybody] to sign any paperwork for her..."
"I found some favor with God. And we're sleeping good," he added after quoting the Bible verse: "Marriage is favorable, and he who finds a wife finds favor in the Lord."
"I'm telling you now, don't let the devil fool you because I ain't the one to play [with]... Please don't come over here showing out. I'm asking you nicely as I know how."
Netizens found the video and the minister's marriage disturbing and accused him of being a "groomer."
"Marriage is honorable, but this is grooming! Sir, you are old enough to be her grandfather! This isn't [a] partnership, this is parenting!" commented one netizen.
"He had his eyes on her [when she was] much younger. It's creepy, and her family is dead wrong," wrote someone else.
"'And we sleeping good at night.' If she's married [that age], how long has he been grooming her? This is disturbing?" another person opined.
"[He's] been grooming her since way before. [This is] just sick, and the whole congregation can go to hell," said a different commenter.
"Her father and the pastor coerced her to marry him... I'm willing to bet her father's been touching her since she was little. Oh and btw her father is the church musician," alleged someone else.
"There is no way she is turned on by this. I'm pretty sure he brainwashed her," stated another netizen.
Bishop Reed, the pastor of the Christ Apostolic Temple in Iowa, reportedly married his young bride, Jordan Goodlett, when he was 63 while she was just 19, according to Atlanta Black Star.
In November 2023, the Instagram account of their church greeted him and his wife on their anniversary with a Bible verse saying: "Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder."
Following the backlash over Reed and Jordan's marriage, the Instagram page of the church limited those who could comment on their posts.
