"I'm sorry that you're thirsty sir but I'm not allowed to give you this free water bottle."
I haven't really let anybody know this yet, I certainly haven't released it to the blogosphere. About two weeks ago we were asked to leave Batavia Park District property (Batavia, IL) because we were passing out free water bottles that promoted our church plant and some upcoming events we were hosting.
The immediate reason that I was given was that we were, "violating Church and State Separation Laws." Of course that's ridiculous and the head honcho of the PD (park district) later confirmed that, while that's the reason we were given, it wasn't an accurate reason.
The real reason is that the Batavia Park District does NOT allow ANY group to assemble on its property without prior approval from the PD. (What is this China? We have to get government permission for everything we do?)
So, following the instruction of the PD we filled out the forms letting the PD know that we would, again, be passing out free water bottles as a church outreach event on park district property next week with our mission team.
We found out today that we have been DENIED access to the park district because of our intent to distribute and promote our church on public park district property. Ridiculous.
Immediately I called the ACLJ (praise God for these guys) for their help. They gave us a bit of advice and counsel and we will be working with them on this issue until it is resolved and we are granted equal access to the park district.
I really wasn't going to blog on this until I read about another "church/state" issue that was posted on the Founder's Blog this afternoon. Check it out here. The title, "Finally! Prayer in Public Schools" really caught my attention.
At any rate, we see these issues on the news every now and then and it's rare, at least for me, to think that we'll ever be involved in an instance where our rights, because we are Christians, are infringed upon.
I guess this is a wakeup call for me, and for you, to realize that the secularization of our society is closer to home than we think. It's a good idea for us to make sure we know and understand our rights so that we can be ready to defend them as we work in our communities to minister, build relationships, and advance the Kingdom.
