Church With Alleged ‘Shiny Happy People’ Connection Apologizes for Anna Duggar’s Father’s Comments on Slavery

Fairpark Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, has apologized for comments that Mike Keller, father of Anna Duggar, made about Black people in a Sunday school lesson he preached on June 25. The church’s pastor, David Waller, was recently named by a survivor featured in “Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets”; the survivor says Waller was present when Bill Gothard sexually groomed her.  

“A hundred-and-fifty years ago or 200 years ago, when the Blacks were slaves, did they ever go to Washington, D.C., and have a rally 200 years ago to protest against slavery?” asked Keller during his talk. “Did they? No. What did they do?”

In a stunning sermon, a minister says enslaved people never rallied in DC to protest slavery. Rather, they relied on plantations’ “good people” to teach them to read the Bible so they could repent and end slavery. Mike Keller is Anna Duggar’s father. v/c: @itsrowsdower on TikTok. pic.twitter.com/yijrDcQh8g

— David Heath (@davidhth) June 27, 2023

“Well, a lot of good people in the plantations would say, ‘Hey, it’s wintertime. Let us help build a church for you dear folks,’” Keller continued. “And they loved them and taught them how to read so they can read the Bible. And here’s what the Blacks did about 150 years ago. They humbled themselves. They prayed. They sought God’s face and they turned from their wicked ways and God made slavery illegal through several white presidents, right? It worked, didn’t it? They didn’t protest.”

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Mike Keller’s Comments Go Viral

A video of Mike Keller’s comments on Twitter gained quite a bit of traction, as did the original clip of his talk, which was from TikTok user @itsrowsdower, who regularly posts on the Duggar family. 

Amid the shocked reactions to the videos, a number of people have pointed out the historical inaccuracies in Keller’s statements, including the fact that Black people did protest, formed the Underground Railroad, and even rebelled against their slave owners—not to mention the fact that the Civil War took place because of slavery. Several people jumped on the phrase “wicked ways,” as it implied culpability on the part of those suffering under slavery. 

Fairpark Baptist Church has since deleted the video of the Keller’s talk and has issued an apology. “Fairpark Baptist Church apologizes for the comments that a guest speaker, Mike Keller, made during a Sunday school lesson on June 25, that referenced the issue of slavery,” the church said in a statement to ChurchLeaders. The statement continues:

The comments were hurtful and reflected a misrepresentation of racial and historical issues and we completely disagree with the statements that were made. Fairpark Baptist Church affirms that racism and slavery are wrong, sinful and violate the Scriptures. As a part of our faith we would never condone slavery, or tolerate any kind of prejudice against people of color. We seek to follow God’s words found in Romans 12:9: “Let love be without dissimulation (hypocrisy). Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.”

In a follow-up video expressing surprise that the church actually apologized, @itsrowsdower asked, “If you thought it was wrong and you didn’t agree with his statement, why did you put out the video on your YouTube channel to begin with? That’s the mind-boggling thing.”