Presbyterian Church Faces Charges over Glee Music Camp

Auburn, N.Y. is the center of a controversy where city leaders and a church event are embroiled in a bitter conflict.

At the heart of the legal battle is the First Presbyterian Church, which hosts a summer Glee Camp in the Case Mansion, according to Todd Starnes of Fox News. The Case Mansion is a government building.

“Immediately cease use of property in an R-2 zone for commercial use,” reads the order. “Cease operating a summer glee camp @100/camper in a residential district. This is not an allowable use here.”

Pastor Eileen Winter considers the order to erroneous and wrongly targets the church.

“I believe this action is a misguided and discriminatory act on the city’s part that not only harms the church’s ability to carry out its religious mission in the community, but also threatens a chilling effect upon other faith organizations similarly situated in residential areas throughout the city,” the pastor said in a court deposition.

Starnes notes that the church was founded in 1810 and the first time the congregation has “run afoul of the law.”

Publication date: January 5, 2014