Y-S teens, exorcism mix slammed
Activist wants church out of tax-funded program

By Harold Kruger
Appeal-Democrat

A local teen pregnancy prevention program is under scrutiny because one of its participants offers exorcisms and labels certain beliefs and groups "occult."

William Calvert, the Yuba Goldfields activist, recently sent a letter to Yuba County supervisors protesting the involvement of the Church of Glad Tidings.

Calvert wrote that he was "extremely upset at the notion that my tax dollars are going to a religious organization for any purpose."

It is "unfathomable that Glad Tidings Church should be participating in any public program to educate our children on any matter," Calvert wrote.

The church, based in Sutter County, is a $16,000 subcontractor in the $110,000 program run by Friday Night Live and funded with a state grant from the Office of Family Planning.

Last week, Yuba County supervisors approved the latest contract with Friday Night Live, which has operated the pregnancy prevention program for the county since 1999.

The supervisors expressed concern about the county's teen pregnancy rate, but Glad Tidings wasn't an issue.

The church provides media services for the program, such as television advertisements, billboards, videos and booklets.

Lou Binninger, the church's community liaison, said Wednesday that the media effort uses many of the same materials developed for Monroe County, N.Y.

"The campaign's message is not religious, but simply a very positive campaign that a cross section of local health department leaders approved," Binninger said. "I personally manage this effort. Government and churches do not always have to believe the same thing to work together. In this instance, all agreed that sexual abstinence was a good investment, so we joined forces."

Binninger said he has participated in the program since the late 1990s when he was invited by Yuba County health officials.

"I don't need the county's money, and I'm not making money off the county," he said. "I responded to assist the county when they felt they couldn't produce what they wanted."

He said the $16,000 pays for media buys - ads and billboards - but doesn't go to the church.

"I don't know of any direct contact between the teens and the Glad Tidings Church," said Supervisor Don Schrader. "I'm not going to get involved in their religious beliefs. I don't see that the issue is as large as Mr. Calvert has made it out to be."

Schrader said Calvert's letter was sent to the County Counsel's Office for review.

"What's a guy who fights over gravel ... why is he all of a sudden interested in Glad Tidings?" Binninger said of Calvert. "I haven't gotten involved in his goldfields fight."

Binninger suggested that the attack was an outgrowth of the battle that raged in the county's Health and Human Services Department, resulting in the firing last year of three employees, including the director, Mike Noda.

Calvert said he had a personal reason for sending the letter after a church member presented him with Glad Tidings' documents.

Calvert said he was most upset when he read the church material relating to groups, religions or practices it considers "occult" or that "make us vulnerable to demonic attack and influence."

Those included Mormonism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, slasher rock music, Ouija boards, yoga and Masonry, according to the document.

"My God, I joined the Masons when I was a young man," Calvert said. "I felt the day I was accepted into the Masons, that was the best day of my life. For some bunch of religious fanatic bigots to up and say that, I felt I had to do something."

According to Binninger, "Most all people who attend Glad Tidings have acquaintances, co-workers (and) family members that are not Christian and may be involved in one of the groups or pursuits listed on the sheet. If these people are doing well and are happy with those beliefs, that is their business and not necessarily any of ours. However, if a person asks for our help and has in (their) background certain experiences, these experiences may figure into a solution to their situation."

In his letter to the supervisors, Calvert said he was told that the church "is in the practice of conducting exorcisms on children and adults 'who may be demonized.'"

An exorcism is a religious rite to drive evil spirits out of a possessed person, place or object.

In the interview, Calvert said: "I don't care if they do exorcisms. To call these other people demonic and there needs to be an exorcism on them, they're just a plain, sick bunch of people. If anybody needs to be prayed over and oil poured on them and an exorcism performed, I'd say it would be (Glad Tidings)."

Asked about exorcisms, Binninger replied: "If it means do we pray for people, the answer is yes. If it means do we pray for people who have demonic problems, the answer is yes."

Glad Tidings deals "with every problem that exists in this community," Binninger said. "People addicted to drugs. People who are addicted to alcohol. People who believe they have demonic problems. They might call it mental problems or demonic problems."

Binninger said he never saw "The Exorcist," so he could not relate that cinematic portrayal of an exorcism to what Glad Tidings does.

"I'm not sure what's in people's minds when they say (exorcism)," he said.

In his letter to county officials, Calvert included a copy of a Glad Tidings' "declaration of consent for exorcism," a legal release form that people are asked to sign before the exorcism takes place.

The form warns that "exorcism of evil spirits is often arduous, and physically taxing, especially for the counselee, who may experience seizures or similar physical and emotional trauma."

Noting the "violent nature of exorcisms," the church document says it will not be held liable for any injury.

"When I got my knee operation, I had to sign a release that I might die on the operating table," Binninger said.

He added, "Does every (exorcism) incident have major problems? Absolutely not."

At Glad Tidings, he said, "All I can tell you, we pray for people. There's no cloaks and crosses. We pray for people. If it's a demonic problem, we pray about that."

Binninger said Calvert received a copy of the "personal history form" that people are asked to fill out "to get to know what the person's background, affiliations or involvements have been."

Calvert said he did not contact Glad Tidings officials prior to sending his letter to the county.