Baptisits joined JW's in court battle when they filed as Friend-of-the-Court, but look what they said about JW's (under the line)...sorry, it's off a database so I don't have a link...
Copyright 2002 P.G. Publishing Co.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
June 2, 2002 Sunday NORTH EDITION
HEADLINE: LOCAL CHURCH JOINS NATIONAL CASE IN FAVOR OF
DOOR-TO-DOOR SOLICITATION BY KAREN KANE
BODY:
In 1983, police stopped Calvary Baptist's youth pastor, who was on a door-to-door crusade in
Butler Township.
Ten years later, a similar encounter occurred between another church staffer and authorities in
Brackenridge.
These memories of past confrontations -- and the fear of more in the future -- have spurred the
Butler County church to an unlikely alliance with the Jehovah's Witnesses in a modern-day holy
war being fought in the chambers of the country's highest court.
And Calvary Baptist, located in Jefferson, hasn't just joined in the lawsuit brought by Jehovah's
Witnesses against the Ohio village of Stratton. It has persuaded 45 other independent Baptist
churches across the country to join in its friend-of-the-court filing in the U.S. Supreme Court case.
"We feel called to do this," said the Rev. Joel Ward of Winfield, pastor of Calvary Baptist. The
church has retained Thomas W. King III of Butler as its attorney in a case that pits religious freedom
and free speech against public safety.
The Supreme Court heard arguments in February in the case, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society
of New York Inc. and the Wellsville, Ohio, Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses vs. Village of
Stratton, Ohio, and Stratton Mayor John M. Abdalla. A decision is expected this summer.
The case boils down to this: Stratton leaders enacted an ordinance in 1998 requiring anyone going
door to door -- whether it's to sell a product or to save a soul -- to register with the municipality to
obtain a solicitation permit.
To get permits, those intending to go door to door have to list specific addresses they intend to visit
and have to carry badges identifying themselves and where they live.
Stratton attorneys have argued that the permit procedure protects the town's 300 or so
predominantly senior citizen residents from being victimized by thieves and scam artists.
Supporting Stratton are 10 states and the National League of Cities. Siding with the Jehovah's
Witnesses are the American Civil Liberties Union and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints.
For Ward of Calvary Baptist, a law like the one on the books in Stratton sets serious restrictions on
a Biblical edict.
"We have a direct command from Scripture to go into all the world to preach the gospel and to do it
door- by-door," said Ward, 39. "There shouldn't be government-imposed restrictions on that."
King said he and his firm -- Dillon, McCandless and King -- believed the case to be so important,
he took it on a pro bono basis, meaning the church will not be charged for his service.
The service entailed doing the research for and writing a legal brief arguing that no restrictions should
be placed on door-to-door evangelization by churches. The brief was filed with the Supreme Court
and considered as part of the case.
Though Calvary Baptist is making a big statement in support of the Jehovah's Witnesses' legal cause,
the church is not exactly huge in numbers. Located about midway between Butler and Saxonburg,
Calvary Baptist has about 240 official members, 330 if you include the congregants who ride the
church-sponsored bus to Wednesday or Sunday services.
Calvary Academy, the church-sponsored K-12 school, has an enrollment of 67.
Its small size is one of the reasons Calvary Baptist enlisted the support of other independent Baptist
churches across the country. "We worked the phones hard. We wanted to make a statement with
our numbers," Ward said.
After all, each of the Baptist churches that signed on with Calvary Baptist are in the same boat, he
said. "We have the same mission. We believe in the literal interpretation of the Scriptures.
"The Scriptures require that for someone to enter heaven, he must be born again. The new birth is by
faith and trust in Jesus Christ," Ward said, explaining why he believes his church's members are
required to occasionally go to door to door to hand out pamphlets and religious literature in the
communities surrounding the church.
Ward said that when he heard of the Jehovah's Witnesses' battle in Ohio, he knew it was a battle
Calvary Baptist should join, though he feels no affinity with the religious tenets of Jehovah's
Witnesses.
_________________________________________________________________
In fact, according to the tenets of his own church, the Jehovah's Witnesses are an "apostate religion,"
meaning they have "willfully departed from the clear teaching of the Scripture" and should generally
be avoided.
This caused some concern when the idea of joining as a "friend of the court" was raised to Ward's
church leaders about nine months ago, he said.
"There was some reservation," he said. "But we explained that we wanted to let the Supreme Court
know that there are others who are concerned about the loss of our freedoms."
The meeting was closed with a unanimous agreement that the church should get involved.
Ward said he's confident the Supreme Court will rule for the Jehovah's Witnesses. But if it doesn't?
"I don't know what we'll do," Ward said. "For now, we're leaving it to God and praying for the
best."
LOAD-DATE: June 2, 2002