When Bill Clinton arrived at the fundraiser for Gujarat earthquake relief a handful of demonstrators stood outside Jubilee Christian Center carrying placards denouncing corruption in the White House during his tenure.

What was not apparent during the four-hour concert, which was attended by over 2,500 people, was the anger against Clinton felt by some of the church members. Though several hundreds of church members attended the concert and applauded Bill Clinton, anger had been building elsewhere.

Many members of the 5,000-strong congregation, in and around San Jose, were so upset with the Rev Dick Bernal, the pastor at the Jubilee Christian Center, for joining hands with Indian organizations, that had invited Clinton, that they told him that he had sinned.

But Bernal says he never thought the issue will balloon into a public controversy, involve an advertisement in a major newspaper and make the Indian American community very unhappy over the entire proceedings.

As soon as the event was announced in February, Bernal says he began getting hate email... some declaring that he was on the way to hell for offering to open the church doors for Clinton.

Don't let the adulterous ex-president enter the building, they said. Others were angry that Clinton had backed gays and lesbians and that he supported the abortion rights.

The conservative church members were also upset that Sharon Stone, a vocal pro-choice activist hated by anti-abortionists, was going to be a guest. But Stone begged off the concert in a few days, citing other engagements.

Even as anger mounted against him, Bernal says he decided to let United Community Appeal, the San Jose-based umbrella group of Indian organizations, use his building. He must have also thought he was getting a good opportunity to showcase to a large number of non-Christians the work of his own church in India. Besides, M C Hammer, the born-again Christian rapper, was also going to be featured in the fundraiser.

As the hate mail continued after the event, that raised nearly $2 million, Bernal ran an advertisement a few days ago in the Mercury News asserting all sinners including Clinton are welcome at the Jubilee Christian Center.

But he also added that if he had offended anyone by letting Clinton speak, they should pray for him. They could not play God and judge him, he added.

Over half of his congregation is African American, he told reporters this week, suggesting that they had enormous amount of respect for Clinton.

He said he is shocked at the hate.

"Dear God, has the church of Jesus Christ been reduced to the Republican Party," he asked, speaking to the Mercury News."

Referring to the African Americans in the congregation, he wondered: "Bill Clinton isn't welcome in my church? I mean, come on, give me a break. To me, Clinton is a guy who needs redemption, like anybody."

In his advertisement, Pastor Bernal was even for more articulate. "For the last 20 years, Jubilee Christian Center has always been a sinner friendly church!," the ad said. "All are welcome in God's house, including former presidents who are flawed, fallen preachers, judgmental evangelicals, New Agers, homosexuals and people of other religions.

"If you're upset because I allowed President Bill Clinton to speak only about the devastation in India, then I am sorry I offended you."

Now, others are getting upset.

Kailash Joshi, the president of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), was among the ones to be offended this time. And he articulated the concern of many other Indian Americans in the Valley when he said a humanitarian effort had degenerated into a controversy.

"It is unfortunate," he said, referring to the controversy and the advertisement. "The fundamental point is that if you have a party, you know who the guests are going to be."

The host decided the guest list, and not the owners of the Jubilee Center. "I do not believe Pastor Bernal should be apologizing to anyone because Clinton was there," he said, recalling the standing ovation Clinton had received and the thunderous applause his four-minute long speech had drawn.

TiE is one of the key organizations in United Community Appeal along with BAPS Care International. "What is very important to us is that our community came together as never before (to address a natural calamity)," he said. "We should remember that, not the controversy."

Joshi is among a dozen businesspersons, along with Valley entrepreneur Lata Krishnan who will accompany Clinton to India in a few weeks for overseeing the relief operations in Gujarat.

There were a few other controversies about the March 2 event, too.

Barnal showed a video of his church's work in India. The final shots showed him baptizing Indians. There was a preponderance of Christian evangelical music, too.

Joshi conceded the use of the video can be debated. He also added that it was a bit odd to see the video. "It was a humanitarian effort, not a religious program," he said.

But he also hastened to add: "I don't want to blow this thing into a communal effort." The pastor and his congregation were "very generous," he continued. Even his own disappointment over the "I'm Sorry" ad need not be pursued further, he added.

"There is no point in turning this into a big controversy."

But he is also upset that Bernal advertisement said, "We raised $2,011,754 for the victims of the great India earthquake."

Bernal says the word "we" included everyone who was part of the effort.

Design: Dominic Xavier

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