CHARLOTTE -- A popular Charlotte church is under fire after a woman’s Facebook post about breastfeeding went viral.
Amanda Zilliken posted on her Facebook page that she was "kicked out" of Elevation Ballantyne’s morning service for breastfeeding with a cover on. She says a woman led her from the service and directed her to an individual bathroom in the church.
The post has received over 1,000 shares and has garnered a lot of attention, with the majority of females commenting that they oppose the church's actions and stand behind Zilliken.
One comment stated, “I would have simply said nope,” to which Zilliken responded, “When she is standing with a flashlight over you with a hungry 3 month old whinning [sic] in stadium that has well over 1000 people with her team asking you to get up and come with her that she meeds [sic] to show you where the "mothers area" is... And now you have a handful of people turning to see whats [sic] going on.... I was really embarrassed at that point.”
Zilliken also replied to a comment, suggesting she make a bigger scene, "...When I tried to talk to staff the men laughed at me!"
As of Monday afternoon, Zilliken said no one from the church had reached out to her. However, on Tuesday, Zilliken posted a number of screenshots of texts she says she received from a member of Elevation Church's lead security staff.
He says in the text, "I just wanted you to know if it was me you saw laughing it was in no way meant towards you or your situation....I just wanted to reach out and apologize if I was one of the men and assure you if me it was not directed towards you and now I'm sorry I didn't fully approach you."
The security staff member goes on to urge Zilliken to not let "the actions of a few" keep her from attending Elevation Church services in the future.
Spectrum News also reached out to Elevation Church for comment but has yet to receive a response.
One of Zilliken’s supporters created a “Nurse-In” Facebook event in response to the situation. The group is planning to meet Zilliken at the church service at 11 a.m. next Sunday, Aug. 20 to show support.