Mississippi Church Raided By Sheriff

   Pastor Arrested

   A church raided during Sunday morning worship service!...The sheriff
says, "I'm going to treat this like a beer bust." ...The pastor
arrested just outside the door, and two successive associates forcibly
removed from the pulpit, and an out-of-town visitor taken into custody
with them!...The pastor's wife threatened with arrest if she did not
reveal the whereabouts of records!...Thirty-eight children taken away
and held for 30 hours in a courthouse basement!

   Then the news media tells of a "child" who "escapes" and the
children's home director-pastor charged with assault and battery and
thirty-eight instances of child abuse and neglect.

   A small Mississippi town called Lucedale becomes the focal point of
national interest in a court battle of epic proportions concerning
religious liberty and first amendment rights!

   How did it all come about? Is there substance to the allegations?
What actually happened?

   An ad hoc committee of pastors from the area where it happens thinks
the church's story should be told. Here it is as we know it.

   A fifteen-year-old youngster, more than six feet tall and "hard as
nails," had difficulty fitting into the environment of the home. Here
are the facts surrounding his departure from the home, the charges by
George County Welfare officials, and the subsequent charges against
Bethel Baptist Church Children's Home and Rev. and Mrs. Herman Fountain.

   The youngster had been told by Brother Fountain that he could leave.
The pastor recommended it. The young man claimed he didn't want to
return to his natural home.

   An order to move agaist the home was obtained through the insistence
of welfare officials in the early morning, between 3 A.M. and 4
o'clock. For some reason, however, welfare workers and law enforcement
officers did not appear at the Bethel Baptist Church until after 11
A.M., the time of the regular Sunday morning service.

   The three chancery judges who heard the charges and evidence against
Rev. Fountain did not see fit to prosecute the case and dismissed all
charges against the Pastor. The home was not closed. The children were
released to the custody of their natural parents who were free to place
them with Brother Fountain as they chose.

   And as suddenly as it arose the storm was gone. But not the pain,
the lingering doubts in the minds of those who only heard the
allegations and not the response, the experience of being in jail, and
not the record of police officials violating the services of a church
on Sunday morning like we read of in far off places and other times
under Godless governments.


   If you wish to write, ask a question, or send support write:

   Bethel Home for Children P.O. Box 61 Lucedale, Miss. 39452

   Brother Herman Fountain with family and friends shortly after being
released from jail.