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March 5, 2004/Adar 12 5764, Vol. 56, No. 24
Church sign triggers furor
ANDREA JACOBS
Intermountain Jewish News
DENVER - The sign in front of Lovingway United Pentecostal Church on Colorado Boulevard and Ten-nessee Avenue reads: "Jews killed the Lord Jesus," a passage from a letter written by Paul the apostle some 1,900 years ago.
Underneath the quote is the single word, "SETTLED!" - an unequivocal statement reflecting a highly-charged and very contemporary con-cern - that a new film would unleash a wave of anti-Semitism.
The sign, which appeared the evening of Feb. 24 - the day before "The Passion of the Christ" opened - is an apparent reference to Mel Gibson's controversial cine-matic depiction of the final 12 hours of Jesus's life.
Many in the Jewish community both locally and nationally feel the movie is anti-Semitic and could spark flames of anti-Jewish senti-ment.
Because Colorado Boule-vard is a well-traveled thoroughfare, the billboard in front of the church is easily visible to motorists. When the local Anti-Defamation Lea-gue asked Lovingway's the Rev. Maurice Gordon to remove the sign, Gordon refused.
ADL Mountain States Regional Director Bruce DeBoskey spoke to Gordon early Feb. 25 and explained that the sign is extremely offensive to Jews. According to DeBoskey, Gordon said he was merely quoting from the Christian Bible, a right he staunchly defended.
An emergency protest rally organized by Colorado Jews for Jewish Identity and activists in some Christian com-munities drew some 200 Jews and Christians on the night of Feb. 24 in front of Lovingway Church.
Gordon did not return the IJN's repeated calls on Feb. 24.
The IJN did learn that Gordon and the Rev. Philip Day, pastor of Boulder United Pentecostal Church, recently held an unsuccessful book burning event in Boulder in an attempt to destroy certain books dealing with mysticism and the occult.
The Rev. Dr. James R. Ryan, an executive with the Colorado Council of Churches, issued a public statement Feb. 25 condemning the Lovingway sign.
The council "is extremely disturbed that the Lovingway United Pentecostal Church has chosen to place a message of judgment and division on their outdoor sign," Ryan wrote. "It is ironic that a church named 'Lovingway' would advance such an attitude of hurtfulness."
When the IJN described the Lovingway sign's contents to Fran Maier, chancellor and special assistant to Archbishop Charles J. Chaput and interfaith officer for the Catholic Archdiocese of Denver, he said he found it "very disturbing."
"Although this does not change our view of the movie, we are emphatic in our support of the Jewish community. Blaming the Jews for the execution of Jesus is a blas-phemy, wrong, and un-Christian."
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