Va. School District Undecided About Pastor's Request to Pass Out Bibles
A school district in Virginia has yet to release a statement regarding possible litigation after the district refused to allow a local pastor to passively pass out Bibles at school locations.
The school board for Martinsville, Virginia said recently that it held a closed door meeting to discuss "actual or probable litigation, or other specific legal matters" related to a recent incident involving local Pastor Bill Moss of Hill Memorial Baptist Church.
According to the Martinsville Bulletin, Moss requested that the school district allow him to passively hand out Bibles at schools located in their district. When he was denied the request, he retained the Liberty Counsel, who sent a letter to the school board requesting that they allow the Bibles to be distributed or face a possible lawsuit.
A separate article by the Martinsville Bulletin reports that the superintendent Pam Heath has requested that the Liberty Counsel drop its threat of a lawsuit and allow the school board to have a "constructive" conversation about the Bible distribution.
"I have to admit that it is very disappointing and even a little disheartening to witness the cloak of threat of a lawsuit in your letter. Legal threats are not necessary, and we would set a better example for our community and students if we avoid them and, instead, have a respectful conversation," Heath wrote.
Moss previously told WDBJ-TV that he thinks the school district refused to allow Gideons International to passively pass out Bibles for political reasons.
"It appears to me it's a political thing," Moss said. "They weren't about to give them out in Martinsville City Schools. I began to investigate a little bit myself, because that concerns me," Moss said.
