Zoning Boards Thwart Church Expansion

CHURCH AND STATE

Robert L. Thoburn thinks his struggle to open a private school in Fairfax County, Virginia, represents a “creeping antichurch mindset” on the part of local government officials around the nation. This fall, Thoburn’s eight-year-long dispute with zoning officials came to a head when the county refused to grant him a permit to operate his school on a 42-acre site because of “environmental concerns.”

Disputed Land

Late this summer, a Fairfax County Circuit Court judge barred Thoburn and his family from opening Fairfax Christian School in a residential area. Fairfax officials said the 300-student school was “unauthorized” because it was built during the summer on property zoned for residential use. Thoburn, a former state delegate and patriarch of one of the county’s most prominent conservative Christian families, was charged with violating an earlier permit allowing only 49 students to attend the school, as well as county health and safety codes.

Some in the county have concerns about development and traffic congestion, while others fear Thoburn, a millionaire, has a hidden agenda to commercialize the area.

Thoburn says his First Amendment rights are at stake. He is planning to file a lawsuit charging Fairfax County with “patterns of discrimination” against the church and church-related schools. “I can see some objective land-use requirements, … but when the criteria become subjective, then you have a real problem,” he said.

County spokesperson Marty Machowsky placed little significance on Thoburn’s discrimination charge. “Fairfax recently wanted to purchase land in [the disputed area], and we backed off because of neighborhood opposition,” Machowsky said. “Our own plans were opposed as well.”

For now, Thoburn has received permission to house his school temporarily in the Fairfax city of Vienna. He said he is “pleased,” but added it will in no way affect his plans to fight county “bias” in the courts.

What Is A Church?

At issue in this and similar zoning cases is how local authorities view the mission of church. “Beyond worship and education functions, the church has begun to branch out into other areas [such as] day care, and shelter for the homeless,” said church/state attorney, Lee Boothby. “These functions require space, but churches have been running into zoning officials who have their own view of what legitimately constitutes a church function.”

Recently, several church zoning cases have become more visible, including incidents in California, Missouri, and Washington. In Seattle, Carl Beals, assistant pastor of First Church of the Nazarene, said his church has tentatively won a zoning battle for expansion, after spending $16,000 in legal fees. Beals said the cost is a concern for the church, but the local “mindset” is costlier still. “We’re seeing people [in government] who think they have unrestrained authority,” he said.

As in Thoburn’s case, Seattle officials deny any bias on the part of the city. And back in Fairfax, Thoburn takes a strong stand against government intervention in his plans for a Christian school. “… The issue is the land, and the land belongs to God.”

By Reggie Terrell.

World Scene

FILM CONTROVERSY

Israel Bans Temptation

The Israeli Film Censorship Board has voted to ban distribution of the controversial movie The Last Temptation of Christ. The board decided the film would violate an Israeli law that prohibits offending the religious feelings and faiths of others.

“What is in the film deals with the very fundamental tenets of the Christian faith,” said board chairman Joshua Justman. “This is no small matter.”

The film, produced by Universal Pictures, has caused outrage among Christians around the world since its release in August. “The board felt that showing it would be offensive to the religious feeling of the Christian community,” Justman said.

Supporters of the film can now petition the board to reconsider its decision. If the ruling is affirmed, the matter can then be appealed to Israel’s High Court of Justice.

SINGAPORE

Heal, But Don’T Convert

The government of Singapore is apparently cracking down on Christian physicians who attempt to convert their patients. Reports coming out of Singapore indicate a new directive issued by the nation’s health minister that orders doctors not to proselytize patients facing death, even when all medical options have been exhausted. Those doctors who do prosyletize will face penalties, according to the reports.

Christians make up a high percentage of Singapore’s academic and medical communities. It is estimated that in population breakdowns, most people in Singapore are Buddhist, with only about 10 percent being Christian. Yet, an estimated 25 percent of university graduates and about 50 percent of the medical profession are Christian.

World Evangelical Fellowship communications director Harry Genet said this directive could be a reaction to this “skewing” of percentages in Singapore’s medical and academic communities. “Singapore is nervous about groups that are overtly trying to change the religious population,” said Genet.

KOREA

Slight Thaw In The North?

Tensions between North and South Korea reached a high point prior to the Olympic Games hosted in Seoul this summer. But overtures from South Korean President Roh Tae Woo aimed at reunification talks with the North, and reports of two new churches, could be a good omen, some observers say.

Roh, addressing the United Nations General Assembly last month, called for an international conference to end the division of the Korean peninsula. He asked the Soviet Union, China, Japan, and the United States to join the two Koreas in hammering out a reunification agreement.

Also last month, several news agencies reported the opening of two new churches—the only dedicated church structures in North Korea since the peninsula was divided in 1945. A 300-seat Protestant church and a 150-seat Roman Catholic church have reportedly been built. An estimated 10,000 Christians have been meeting in house churches since the split.

WORLD PEACE

Graham Commends Un

Speaking last month to a group of McMaster University students in Hamilton, Ontario, evangelist Billy Graham praised the United Nations for its work in helping solve some of the world’s problems, notably in the Middle East. He credited the UN for “helping bring about at least a cessation of warfare in Iraq and Iran.”

Graham also raised the issue of militarism. “We’re spending billions and billions on bombs that will never be used, and yet millions of people are on the verge of starvation or are actually starving,” he said. He reminded the students that “we are not living in a Christian world,” but told them ordinary people can have an influence on world peace. “Be sure you have the peace of God in your own heart,” he urged, adding that such peace comes from Jesus Christ.

UPDATE

Shroud Verdict Questioned

Last month, the Roman Catholic Church announced it had accepted new scientific test results that suggest the Shroud of Turin could not be the burial cloth of Jesus. The shroud’s custodian, Anastasio Cardinal Ballestero, revealed that radiocarbon tests indicate the shroud cloth was created between 1260 and 1390.

Evangelical scholar Gary Habermas, who coauthored Verdict on the Shroud (Servant, 1981), admits the new evidence has made him “more skeptical” about the authenticity of the shroud. “I have been on the side of those saying it was authentic, though I do not hang my faith on it,” said Habermas, chairman of Liberty University’s philosophy department. “However, there is still some concern in the scientific community regarding several specific problems in the testing procedures.” Habermas would like to see more testing done because “if the shroud is authentic, it offers incredible further proof of the Crucifixion, and possibly the Resurrection.”

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