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Members of the Newark community painted "Abolish White Supremacy" and "All Black Lives Matter" on Halsey street and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd on Saturday, June 27. Drone video taken on Monday, June 29, in Newark. NorthJersey.com

South Orange is home to the latest brouhaha over the Black Lives Matter movement, with the pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows telling one of his lectors to stop wearing a t-shirt that bears the message of racial equity.

The Rev. Brian Needles said in a letter to the lector that several people complained to him about his attire. Needles letter, posted in a local Facebook group, says a t-shirt, incredibly enough, can be a real source of division and distraction.

We live in such a contentious society already and I dont want a t-shirt worn at Mass to become a source of distraction or bad feelings in our parish, the letter reads. When the word of God is proclaimed, nothing, including a slogan on a shirt, should distract listeners from the fruitful hearing of the scriptures.

The request has caused a stir in South Orange and neighboring Maplewood, liberal enclaves where residents pride themselves on professing racial justice. Last month the towns joined to paint Black Lives Matterin two places on Valley Road, a few blocks from Our Lady of Sorrows. Black Lives Matter signs dot numerous front lawns in both towns.

A spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Newark said lectors should adhere to a dress code.(Photo: Terrence T. McDonald)

In a statement, the Archdiocese of Newark, which oversees the church, said parishioners are welcome to wear shirts that promote a cause or movement, but lectors should follow the archdiocesan dress code.

"The policy requires celebrants and lay ministers to refrain from wearing t-shirts as well as any clothing that draws attention to the individual and distracts from the word of God," the statement reads. "This is to ensure that the assemblys attention is focused on scripture and not on the individual proclaiming it."

Walter Fields, founder of education advocacy group Black Parents Workshop, told NorthJersey.com as a Christian he is perplexedthat a "stand for oppressed people" could be seen as contradictory to the message of the Catholic Church.

"In the Bible that I read Jesus Christ is a revolutionary prophet who challenged injustice and stood for 'the least of these, Fields said. To suggest a t-shirt is somehow offensive to the word of Christ is to suggest that our worship is not Christ-like."

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Support of the Black Lives Matter has risen dramatically since the movement began in 2013 as a reaction to the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the death of Trayvon Martin. A majority of American voters support the movement by a double-digit margin, according to online research firm Civiqs. The movement has gained increasing popularity since the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, which sparked nationwide unrest and calls for police reform.

But the phrase continues to spark political division. When the state Assembly voted in June to designate July 13 as Black Lives Matter Day, 18 members abstained, including Assemblyman Jon Bramnick, R-Union, who said he believes Black lives matter but does not support the Black Lives Matter organization.

In Hackensack, Beech Street resident Janine Luppino is at the center of her own Black Lives Matter controversy. Luppino hung a Black Lives Matter banner on her balcony about a month ago, leading to a spat between her and her condo association, which told her she must take the banner down.

Luppino acknowledges the banner which she noted hangs inside her balcony, not over the side is not permitted by the associations rules. But she said some of her neighbors also have items on their balconies that are not permitted, like plant hangers hanging off the side.

Ill follow the rules when everybody else follows the rules, she said.

Luppino on her balcony with the Black Lives Matter banner that landed her in hot water with her condo association.(Photo: Mitsu Yasukawa/ Northjersey.com)

The condo buildings management, which declined to comment, told Luppino and her husband they will lose their pool privileges if the banner is not removed and may have one of their parking spaces revoked, Luppino said.

She said because of her schedule she can't be heavily involved in Black Lives Matter protests, but she wanted to do something.

"It was something I felt like doing as solidarity," she said."It just felt good to do it, to make a statement."

Terrence T. McDonaldis a reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community,please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email:mcdonaldt@northjersey.comTwitter:@terrencemcd

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NJ church pastor tells lector not to wear Black Lives Matter t-shirt during Mass - NorthJersey.com