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Kilgore youth take part in a different kind of worship service

https://www.newspapers.com/image/611909565 Copyright © 2022 Newspapers.com. All Rights Reserved. The Kilgore News Herald (Kilgore, Texas) · Sun, Jul 27, 1980 · Page 1 Downloaded on Apr 27, 2022

The Kilgore News Herald (Kilgore, Texas) · Sun, Jul 27, 1980 · Page 1 Downloaded on Apr 27, 2022

BY MEREDITH SHAMBURGER mshamburger@kilgorenewsherald.com Copyright © 2022 Newspapers.com. All Rights Reserved.

The News Herald’s front page on July 27, 1980 probably would have shocked a lot of readers, or at the very least caught their attention real quick.

It’s not every day more than 50 teens get arrested at one time.

Luckily for the town, there was not an outbreak of teens gone wild. It was a mock arrest of a church group, designed to show them what it’s like to practice Christianity in places where it is against the law.

Reporter Kevin McDaniel’s story,"'Underground church' stages arrest," included a photo of the scene that Friday night as police officers Jerry Rosegrant and B.W. Acker staged a mock arrest.

Here’s the story in full:

When Kilgore Police officers Jerry Rosegrant and B.W. Acker answered a “disturbance” call at the Triple D Oil Shell Station Friday night, they found a strange scene.

Almost 50 young people were sitting in a small storage area. They were dressed neatly, and looked anything but guilty.

Yet the lock was broken, the door was open, and they were inside.

“This is the underground church,” said the Rev. Jim Roberts, “and we’re doing something a little different tonight.”

“I’ll say you are,” Acker said. “Looks like you’re teaching these kids about burglary.”

So began the last in a week of unusual meetings for the Youth Underground Church of Kilgore. Roberts, youth minister for the First Baptist Church, organized the group, and during the past week, they worshipped in some very un-church like settings, such as abandoned warehouses and creekbeds.

One of the aims of the program, Roberts said, was to show the youngsters what it was like to be “guilty” of Christianity. In the early days of Christianity, believers had to meet covertly to avoid capture by the Romans. And even today, he said, in countries like Russia that do not allow freedom of worship, Christians must worship secretly.

So to top the week off, Roberts arranged to have the group

arrested by Kilgore Police Friday.

The group arrived at the Triple D Oil Shell Station around 8. They were to hold their meeting in a storage area at the station. The door would be unlocked, Roberts assured them.

According to the plan, it wasn’t.

Roberts and some of the group members began looking for a way to get in. Roberts returned with the hacksaw blade he hid earlier in the day.

At this point, some of the members were laughing nervously and, and walked away.

“They’d haul us all down for breaking and entering,” said one girl.

Sensing mutiny, Roberts led the group around the side of the building, where Mike McGraw led them in singing.

Roberts and Bob Barton, a member of the group, went back to the lock. They sawed through the sturdy lock while the church members “covered them” with lively rounds of “Do Lord” and “I’ll Fly Away.”

The door was raised, and the group moved inside where the singing continued.

As scheduled, Officers Rosegrant and Acker arrived in patrol cars around 8:45. Acker was stern, authoritative. Rosegrant was equally tough.

The officers said they were going to commandeer the church bus, and told everyone to get on it.

When they arrived at the station, two other officers were waiting to “guard” the prisoners.

The girls were led to a cell, and locked in. Then, Acker locked up the boys.

At this time, Jerdy Wolverton, minister of education and administration at the First Baptist Church, arrived. He and Rosegrant stood within earshot of the girls’ cell.

“Mr. Roberts is charged with burglary of a building,” said Rosegrant. “Now, if you want to get him out tonight, you need to get in touch with a bondsman.”

“Where can I find a bondsman this time of night?” Wolverton said. The girls’ cell was quiet for the first time.

Now, it was Justice of the Peace G.C. Weatherly’s turn in the spotlight. He looked at the youngsters sternly as they filed in before him.

“Boys and girls,” he said. “I understand you’ve been charged with breaking and entering?”

“They didn’t tell us that,” said a boy.

“Your Honor,” said Roberts, “We didn’t break and enter.”

“As far as I’m concerned,” said Acker, “it’s breaking and entering.”

“This is Mickey Mouse,” Roberts said.

“We took them out of the “You tell that to those bars back there,” replied Acker. church, and brought them Finally, Wolverton revealed the ruse, and the group cheered. to an awareness of what “Can we recommend an Oscar for the man right there?” a boy said, walking in the footsteps of pointing at Acker. “And let’s have a hand for the Jesus really means.” judge,” said another. “How many of you had any idea it was a set-up?” Wolverton asked. About a third of the group raised their hands. On the bus afterwards, one woman said she had suspected the whole thing from the start. And a 12-year-old girl was asked what she would have done if she had spent the night in jail. “Probably cry,” she said. Roberts said Saturday the purpose of the group was to allow the youngsters to experience their religion in a setting other than church. “In a church setting, it is too easy to sit and not sing the songs, or listen to the sermon,” he said. “We took them out of the church, and brought them to an awareness of what walking in the footsteps of Jesus really means.” The mock arrest, he said, was one way of dramatizing for them the kinds of sacrifices people make for their religion. In this way, he said, the religious experience becomes more valuable.

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