http://www.eveningsun.com/ci_12940359

Pastor prays 'in Jesus' name'

Controversy marked the Rev. Gerry Stoltzfoos' service as the state Senate's guest chaplain.

By ERIN JAMES

The Evening Sun

Posted: 07/30/2009 01:00:00 AM EDT

The Senate floor, bustling seconds before, came to a halt as the Rev. Gerry Stoltzfoos stepped to the podium.

"I am painfully aware that there are many here today who have embraced belief systems other than mine. I am not here to say that everyone ought to believe as I do," Stoltzfoos read slowly from a prepared statement. "But I can only pray to my God. If you believe in some other power, I invite you to address yours as I address mine."

Then, as senators on both sides of the aisle bowed their heads, Stoltzfoos went on to ask God for guidance, grace and forgiveness in a prayer tailored specifically for the work of a Legislature.

But there was another message in the local pastor's prayer, which he delivered Wednesday morning when he served as the state Senate's guest chaplain.

Stoltzfoos - the lead pastor at Freedom Valley Worship Center near Gettysburg - concluded by saying, "For those of us who are Christians, we pray in Jesus' name."

It's a sentence Stoltzfoos could not have uttered on the floor of the state House of Representatives without violating a longstanding policy of the Speaker of the House.

That policy - to ask that guest chaplains deliver "non-denominational, inter-faith" prayers and refrain from referring to specific deities, such as Jesus or Allah - has come under intense scrutiny since Stoltzfoos declined an invitation last month to pray before the House.

Stoltzfoos had been invited by state Rep. Will Tallman, R-Reading

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Township, to open the June 23 session of the House with a prayer. The pastor complied with a request from Speaker of the House Keith McCall's office that he submit the prayer in advance.

But he declined the invitation after being asked to remove the word "Jesus" from the prayer's closing.

Upset by what he saw as a discriminatory policy, Stoltzfoos contacted The Evening Sun suggesting that the issue might be newsworthy. The story set off a firestorm of controversy that spilled onto the pages of major newspapers and the airwaves of conservative talk radio.

On Wednesday, Stoltzfoos said he has been interviewed by reporters 25 times and is about "800 e-mails behind" in answering correspondence from people everywhere interested in the issue.

"This whole thing just gets deeper and more confusing," he said. "I always have the feeling there are issues on the edge of it that I know nothing about."

The pastor also said he has offers from five law firms to represent him in a free-speech lawsuit against the state House of Representatives.

"I don't like the legal fights, and I don't want to do that," he said. "But neither do I want to let an opportunity pass to defend the Constitution - which I really believe in - or to defend my faith."

Stoltzfoos said he is struggling to make a final decision, and he asked state Sen. Rich Alloway, R-Chambersburg, for his advice Wednesday. Alloway - who invited Stoltzfoos to pray before the Senate after reading about the controversy - said he didn't have an opinion one way or the other.

But, he did urge the pastor to contact the Bill O'Reilly Show.

"This is the kind of stuff that he eats up. I love Bill O'Reilly. He's a straight shooter," the senator said.

Alloway also told Stoltzfoos he thought the House policy is a "little ridiculous" and that he believes "government should not be antagonistic toward any religion."

The pastor agreed that it is a free-speech issue and questioned the logic behind the policy.

"Isn't it OK to be in a room with somebody you disagree with?" he asked rhetorically.

Stoltzfoos was also accompanied Wednesday by Tallman and state Rep. Dan Moul, R-Conewago Township. Both representatives have expressed support for the pastor's stance and gave him a tour of the Capitol building following the prayer.

On the House floor, Moul pointed upward to the words "And ye shall know the truth. And the truth shall make you free" printed on the chamber's ceiling.

"It's hard to believe we've got to be non-denominational and we've got Bible verses right on our ceiling," Moul said.

While Stoltzfoos said he has received mostly supportive feedback, McCall has been the target of harsh criticism and even several death threats since the story broke.

In June, a McCall spokesman said the pre-screening policy had been implemented to protect taxpayers from a potential lawsuit - something that has in fact happened in other states.

But on Wednesday, McCall's chief of staff, Paul Parsells, said there was more to the story. Several months ago, another pastor had delivered a prayer with "political" overtones, Parsells said.

"We had somebody give a pretty offensive prayer on the floor. Members were walking off the floor it was that offensive," Parsells said. "It just caught us off guard and offended many members."

That incident prompted the Speaker's office to require prayers in advance from guest chaplains, he said.

But specific deity references have been discouraged by the office for decades, he added.

The pre-screening policy had been in practice for only a few weeks before Stoltzfoos objected and the issue became public. Parsells said McCall's office admits the policy change was a "mistake," given the feedback.

That hasn't stopped the hate mail, however. Parsells said the office has been inundated with correspondence from people calling McCall a "Jesus hater" and suggesting that staff members "burn in hell."

Blogs and radio shows have perpetuated the controversy by not checking the facts, he said.

"It just boggles my mind," Parsells said, adding that the issue has taken a personal toll on many staff members.

Stoltzfoos, who met with McCall on Wednesday, asked that anyone hassling the Speaker's office cease doing so on his behalf. McCall, a Christian, is a "brother in the Lord," he said.

"There's no need to be nasty," Stoltzfoos said. "I don't want to be cruel to anybody."

But, Stoltzfoos added, that he is disappointed McCall has not chosen to rescind the House's longstanding policy against specific deity references.

If he ever is invited again to serve as the House's guest chaplain, that's not something the pastor said he is willing to compromise on.

"If I accept (an) invitation, I will pray in the name of Jesus," Stoltzfoos said. "I'm not trying to make anybody mad. I'm not on a crusade. I'm just trying to quietly stand up for what I believe in."