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Sen. Chris Buttars stood at a microphone at Calvary Baptist Church on Sunday and apologized to the congregation for racially insensitive comments he made on the floor of the Utah Senate.

"All I can do," Buttars said, "is say I'll beg your forgiveness. It was wrong. It was stupid. And I ask, if it's possible, forgive me."

It was the senator's most direct and public effort thus far to reach out to the black community since calls for his resignation following a Feb. 12 comment Buttars made regarding a bill that he opposed: "This baby is black, I'll tell you. It's a dark, ugly thing."

Buttars had met privately with the Rev. France Davis and other church leaders for about an hour on Thursday for a frank discussion on the topic of race, and Davis told his congregation that he invited Buttars to come to the church Sunday.

Early in the service, Davis invited Buttars to the front of the church, where the senator said he meant no offense by his "terrible remarks."

"I knew as soon as I said it, that it was a horrible remark," he said, but insisted he never meant it in reference to a person. "All I can do is say I'm sorry."

Some in the pews answered with responses of "All right," and "Amen." As Buttars concluded, about a third of the congregation stood and applauded.

"It takes a big person to say, 'I'm sorry,' . . . and to do it off of familiar territory," Davis told his audience.

"I want - on behalf of you if there are no objections - to accept his apology," he said, as the two men briefly embraced.

Buttars said he promised to do whatever he could in the future to help the community, and returned to his seat next to his wife, daughter and other supporters.

"We were able to witness the meaning of Christian love and forgiveness this morning," said the Rev. Ken Johnson.

Davis said he thinks it was a good experience for the senator. "He was shaking like a leaf when he walked in the door, but he's doing much better now," he said.

After the service, parishioners shook the senator's hand and thanked him for coming. Some posed for pictures with Buttars and his wife.

"He invited me to come down and I'm sure glad he did," Buttars said after the service.

The event was a show of contrition and good faith that many at the Capitol had privately said should have come much earlier.

Attorney General Mark Shurtleff had arranged a meeting last week with leadership of the NAACP, but Buttars refused to attend after the group insisted the meeting be open to the press.

NAACP leaders called on Buttars to resign over the baby comment and his earlier criticism of the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which ended legalized segregation. They were further angered when Buttars told The Tribune that, based on the hateful e-mails he had received, he had become the target of a "hate lynch mob."

There appears to be little chance for Buttars to mend the relationship with the civil rights group. Buttars has refused to resign his seat and says he will seek re-election, and the NAACP's regional president, Jeanetta Williams, said the group is encouraging challengers to run against him and may stage a protest at the Capitol this week.