Newsflash: Freedom of religion still exists in Lake Highlands, Texas.
Yesterday afternoon, the Dallas Housing Authority reversed its decision to prohibit Lake Highlands United Methodist Church from offering worship services for elderly residents of Audelia Manor as part of its Off-Campus Ministries outreach program. Apartment residents who wish to toddle and roll over to the apartment complex’s Fellowship Room may do so, and those who wish only to avail themselves of other services provided by church staffers and community volunteers may do that, as well.
The decision by MaryAnn Russ, DHA’s new president, to halt services touched off a firestorm yesterday, as word got out to the community about her Feb. 16 edict. She decreed the services to be a violation of the Constitution’s separation of church & state and therefore prohibited. The community rallied ‘round and politicians got involved, but the most powerful voices may have been the residents who appealed to have services restored. Low-income folks without vehicles, shut-ins who have difficulty getting around, and residents who just appreciated the convenience requested reinstatement of their worship time.
The final straw was when HUD, the federal agency supposedly offended when people pray on their property, said they didn’t understand the fuss. Russ had misinterpreted federal guidelines, they said.
LHUMC’s OCM Director, Rev. Pamela Clark (shown in this photo with a resident of another complex supported by OCM), met with Russ, Councilman Jerry Allen and a few others yesterday to clear up the mess. “We will be back in the Audelia Manor Fellowship Room this Sunday!” she told church members by email. “We see this challenging week as a reminder of just how precious our freedoms are. We recognize how privileged we are to be able to share God’s love with others. We welcome the renewal this situation has brought to our community and to OCM.”
Amen to that.
