Separation of Church & Parks
Separation of Church & Parks
By Bruce Piel
On Saturday, September 28th, a Freeport Church rented the Lakeside Theatre in Eisenhower Park for a religious revival meeting. This is the second year the Perfecting Faith Church has hosted “New York Call” in the park. Using a public park for this activity raises some disturbing questions.
Religious activities such as revival meetings, retreats, bible studies, group prayers, etc. for any faith based organization, normally is to be encouraged and appreciated. Reinforcing doctrines of love, generosity, morality and peace by Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, etc. usually serve to improve our society and interfaith cooperation. Where this becomes problematic is when an inappropriate venue is used for the services.
Public parks are provided by tax monies for public recreation. A revival meeting may be congregational, inspirational and interdenominational but not recreational. Last year, organizer Pastor Donnie McClurkin contracted with the Nassau County Department of Recreation and Parks for a “concert” at the Lakeside theatre and agreed to pay a fee of $12,000 to hold the event. And while music was certainly a part of the New York Call, the event was not just a concert. Apparently the collections last year were substantial enough for the Perfecting Faith Church to hire an Armored Car Service to pickup the donations from the faithful. Disturbingly, the Parks Department has yet to receive the $12,000 fee.
Since the county provided police and park personnel to monitor and support the event a case could be made that last year was a government supported religious service which raises constitutional concerns.
Beyond that, it would appear that Nassau and Long Island have other venues beside recreational parks that could be used, for a fee, for such events. The Veteran’s Coliseum immediately comes to mind and if an outdoor site is desired, the church could lease the parking lot instead of the building. Citibank Ball Park in Islip would be another possibility. Parks would not appear to be appropriate venues for this type of religious event.
These questions should be addressed by the County Administration and the Legislature long before any contract is signed by the Parks Department to hold a religious event on public lands. Any large scale event such as this also denies the general public access to the park for legitimate recreational uses. Nassau County parks are reserved for county residents and their guests. Having 5,000 or more participate in the “Call” from all over the New York metropolitan area would appear to strain the definition of guests.
We should recognize that reaffirmation of established religious tenets and interfaith harmony is generally beneficial to any society especially a multi-cultural one such as ours. Every effort should be made to encourage and support such events. To insure that public rights and constitutional concerns are met, government and religious institutions should be scrupulous in avoiding any misperceptions. Choosing a proper site would be a major part of such a process. Failure to do so only taints an otherwise laudable activity.
Since the second “New York Call” is now history, now would be the time for the Perfecting Faith Church of Freeport and the 130 other metropolitan area churches that participated to begin looking for a more appropriate venue for next year’s gathering and also address the oversight in payment of last year’s fee.
By Bruce Piel
On Saturday, September 28th, a Freeport Church rented the Lakeside Theatre in Eisenhower Park for a religious revival meeting. This is the second year the Perfecting Faith Church has hosted “New York Call” in the park. Using a public park for this activity raises some disturbing questions.
Religious activities such as revival meetings, retreats, bible studies, group prayers, etc. for any faith based organization, normally is to be encouraged and appreciated. Reinforcing doctrines of love, generosity, morality and peace by Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, etc. usually serve to improve our society and interfaith cooperation. Where this becomes problematic is when an inappropriate venue is used for the services.
Public parks are provided by tax monies for public recreation. A revival meeting may be congregational, inspirational and interdenominational but not recreational. Last year, organizer Pastor Donnie McClurkin contracted with the Nassau County Department of Recreation and Parks for a “concert” at the Lakeside theatre and agreed to pay a fee of $12,000 to hold the event. And while music was certainly a part of the New York Call, the event was not just a concert. Apparently the collections last year were substantial enough for the Perfecting Faith Church to hire an Armored Car Service to pickup the donations from the faithful. Disturbingly, the Parks Department has yet to receive the $12,000 fee.
Since the county provided police and park personnel to monitor and support the event a case could be made that last year was a government supported religious service which raises constitutional concerns.
Beyond that, it would appear that Nassau and Long Island have other venues beside recreational parks that could be used, for a fee, for such events. The Veteran’s Coliseum immediately comes to mind and if an outdoor site is desired, the church could lease the parking lot instead of the building. Citibank Ball Park in Islip would be another possibility. Parks would not appear to be appropriate venues for this type of religious event.
These questions should be addressed by the County Administration and the Legislature long before any contract is signed by the Parks Department to hold a religious event on public lands. Any large scale event such as this also denies the general public access to the park for legitimate recreational uses. Nassau County parks are reserved for county residents and their guests. Having 5,000 or more participate in the “Call” from all over the New York metropolitan area would appear to strain the definition of guests.
We should recognize that reaffirmation of established religious tenets and interfaith harmony is generally beneficial to any society especially a multi-cultural one such as ours. Every effort should be made to encourage and support such events. To insure that public rights and constitutional concerns are met, government and religious institutions should be scrupulous in avoiding any misperceptions. Choosing a proper site would be a major part of such a process. Failure to do so only taints an otherwise laudable activity.
Since the second “New York Call” is now history, now would be the time for the Perfecting Faith Church of Freeport and the 130 other metropolitan area churches that participated to begin looking for a more appropriate venue for next year’s gathering and also address the oversight in payment of last year’s fee.
posted by Bruce Piel @ 7:02 AM
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