The state Department of General Administration refused to give a permit to an Olympia church that wants to hold a Sunday baptism along with its barbecue and picnic at Heritage Park on the Capitol Campus.
GA acting director Jane Rushford issued her decision late Friday, saying that the state constitution does not allow use of state resources for worship or the exercise of religion. It was not clear whether a legal challenge will ensue, but the issue of religious displays has been boisterous in past years – and eventually led to a 2009 ban on indoor displays in the domed Capitol.
Agency spokesman Jim Erskine said lawyer Michelle K. Terry of the American Center for Law and Justice in Brentwood, Tenn., was notified by email of the decision. Terry had filed an appeal Thursday after GA earlier refused to issue a permit requested Aug. 2 by Matt Chrisope of the Reality Church of Olympia.
“We are approving their use of Heritage Park for the purpose of a picnic, a barbecue. We are denying their permit for the purpose of holding a baptism,” Erskine said.
Terry did not respond immediately to email and telephone requests for comment. Neither did Chrisope or another church leader, Paul Jones, listed on the permit as a contact.
The church held picnics two previous years in Heritage Park without incident, and its permit this year lets it move forward with another picnic-barbecue at noon Sunday.
In her written appeal of GA’s decision about the baptism, Law & Justice lawyer Terry had written that it was “a violation of Mr. Chrisope’s rights protected by the Free Speech and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.” She also argued that Chrisope’s event was private and not open to the public, and she said there is no question they have a right to express their religious views.
Acting GA director Jane Rushford issued the final decision late Friday afternoon, which came after consultations with lawyers in the Attorney General’s Office and with the Governor’s Office. In a letter to Terry, she did not mention the U.S. Constitutional rights cited by Terry but did quote the state constitution’s first article, saying, “‘No public money or property shall be appropriated for or applied to any religious worship, exercise or instruction, or the support of any religious establishment.’”
Rushford went on to draw a distinction between speech and the exercise of religion: “A baptism ceremony is a form of religious exercise and worship, and as such it would violate Article 1 Section 11 to authorize the use of state property for this use.”
The American Center for Law & Justice is a right-of-center group that has won battles over allowing Bible clubs to meet on a school campus and other separation-of-church-and-state issues.
Attorney Mary Ellen Combo of the AG’s Office represented the state in discussions with the group. But Erskine said that in reaching a decision, GA included the office of Gov. Chris Gregoire, who two years ago was caught in another church-state controversy over the display of atheist signs near a nativity and a menorah inside the Capitol. That led to a new policy that barred indoor religious displays.
“We won’t be surprised if there continues to be these sorts of issues,” Erskine said. “All we can do is take each case on an individual basis on its merits and see if it is an event we can approve or not.”
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