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Kilgore youth take part in a different kind of worship service
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The Kilg ore New s
Herald (K
ilgore, Te xas)
re, Texas) The Kilgore News Herald (Kilgo
1 · Sun, Jul 27, 1980 · Page 2022 Downloaded on Apr 27,
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BY MEREDITH SHAMBURGER Res erved. papers .com. All Rights Copyright © 2022 News mshamburger@kilgorenewsherald.com
T
he 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. 18 Etcetera | Summer 2022
· Sun, Jul 2 Downloa
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
ded
