Church-State Controversy in Town
Municipal Building Gathering under fire
The Gathering, a local religious group that has been meeting in the Portville Municipal Building for the
past two years has found itself in the middle of a church-state controversy. A growing contingency of citizens is
worried that the group may actually be a cult that is brainwashing the young people in town, using the government facility
to proselytize impressionable teenagers.
"I've been watching this Jim Jones Peoples' Temple tragedy on the news lately, and I'm beginning to
really believe that something similar is happening right under our noses," declared one concerned mother during a special
community meeting held in the Municipal Building on Tuesday night.
Several other parents voiced their opposition to the Christian group meeting in the building, which houses
the post office, a court house, and various governmental offices. "What ever happened to the law that separates church
and state?" argued Gloria Handley, whose son recently joined The Gathering but now refuses to attend the local Methodist Church
of his upbringing.
Started around 1974 by a few Portville teens who "found the Light" and became "born-again" through the Jesus
People Movement, the Gathering has been attracting adolescents from the area for five years.
Chuck Eddy, the adult leader of the controversial group is a teacher at Portville Central School, where
most of the kids attend. "The First Amendment never uses the term 'separation of church and state'," noted Mr. Eddy
after the community meeting. "As far as Jim Jones goes, I never met the man."
The four mothers who showed up to ask questions declared before leaving, "There are alot of folks who were
afraid to come tonight. We represent a number of other concerned adults, including a couple of pastors. We know
Jimmy Carter is a born-again...but he's a Democrat," one of them added.
The religious conflict in this sleepy town probably will not go away soon. According to Eddy, over
50 kids from Portville have "become saved" and are "learning to follow Jesus". As well, over two dozen adults in the
community have gone public with their "born-again" state. Many of them are teachers and civic leaders.
According to PCS junior Roger DeAngelo, the born-again movement began in California during the Sixties and
spread to all other urban areas by 1970. "It finally crept into the Appalachian hills of Western New York in 1973,"
noted the saved historian. Roger plans on moving to L.A. after high school to start a Christian all-female rock band.
"The church-state conflict has come up across the nation," Roger continued. "I talked about it in
Mr. McCann's class the other day. I still can't believe the school lets us have Religious Release Time on Wednesdays.
Someone was bound to say something."
Gathering adherents stayed in the municipal building for two hours after the Tuesday meeting, giving this
reporter a clearer insight into what makes these young Jesus Freaks tick. They are certainly an unusual bunch that
is determined to meet somewhere, and kind of like the controversy.
"It reminds me of the Book of Acts," spouted one Gathering teen, robotically echoed by the rest of the group.
"God's pouring out the Holy Spirit, and the townspeople are all worried about the fanatics...their children!"
Time will tell with what happens in Portville this spring. Some sort of religious revival is happening,
and rightly so, a bunch of citizens are down-right concerned.
