Strong men carry message to schools

Stacy J. Willis

Friday, March 12, 1999 | 11:29 a.m.

They didn't say the word "Jesus."

There was no mention of "God" nor "church."

Instead, members of the Christian evangelist "Power Team" whipped up interest at two Clark County high school assemblies Thursday by busting stacks of bricks with their elbows, ripping entire telephone books with their bare hands and hoisting sizable tree trunks above their heads -- all to the tune of a little hip-hop music.

And then, tenderly toeing the line between church and state, they handed to hundreds of kids fliers that told them "where to see more": Cornerstone Christian Fellowship.

It was a part of the church's weeklong crusade intended "to reach out to the unchurched and bring new people in," according to the Rev. Leroy Roybal, associate pastor at the 1,200-member Las Vegas Cornerstone.

"Going into schools is one way to do that."

The Las Vegas church recruited the Dallas-based Power Team evangelists to drum up the community's interest in Jesus.

If they are lured by the secular "say no to drugs" message and weightlifting gimmicks at the public school assemblies, students will receive "a more religious message" at one of Power Team's nightly shows this week through Sunday at Cornerstone, Roybal said.

"I know that some people think it's an issue of church and state because these are public schools, and a lot of people are afraid of getting into that gray area. That's too bad because there are a lot of kids out there who need help," he said.

Cornerstone booked four shows at local public schools for Power Team this week. Cimarron-Memorial and Basic high schools hosted the performances Thursday; Clark High School and Cannon Middle School were scheduled to host them today.

Although some administrators later said that the assemblies were "optional" for students, other administrators said the option was given only to teachers as to whether to take their classes. Several students said they were not aware that the assembly at Cimarron-Memorial was optional and were not given an alternative to attending. Both Power Team performances played to packed gymnasiums at the schools.

30 big menThe Power Team is made up of about 30 beefy gentlemen -- Thursday's assemblies featured the 400-pound James Henderson, introduced as "the strongest man in the world" -- who bend crowbars in their teeth, break baseball bats over their legs and tell stories about woe and salvation.

"(The Power Team) sends you a manual of how to run a crusade, and it talks about the school thing and the fliers, and you pretty much go by the manual," Roybal said.

"We basically just tried to get schools to let us in, and it wasn't too good at first. No one would let us come -- which is really kind of sad because so many kids are hurting today, and not allowing them to find something to help them is sad," Roybal said.

Administrators at the schools who did welcome the Power Team said they were interested only in the no-drugs message and "feats of strength" performance.

"We had some concerns about toning down the religious part of the message, and they said it would be a nonreligious theme," Cimarron Vice Principal Faron Springer said. "And it was nonreligious. It was an ambiguous anti-drug message.

"But some may consider it offensive that they passed out fliers, and that's a valid concern."

Unlike the case at Cimarron, administrators at Basic High School prohibited the distribution of fliers that listed the church name, address and Power Team performance schedule. After the Basic assembly, interested kids had to ask church leaders for the location of the Power Team's next performance. ("Many did," Roybal said.)

Clark County School District officials said the church-sponsored assemblies are not an endorsement of religious beliefs.

"As a public school district we do not sponsor, endorse or promote religion," Mary Stanley-Larsen, a Clark County School District spokeswoman, said.

"If they had said, 'I can do these things (feats of strength) because I go to church, then we'd be in a different situation," Bill Hoffman, a lawyer for the school district, said. But distributing the church flier at a school assembly, he said, does not constitute an endorsement of religion.

The church and the Power Team make no apologies for targeting the captive audiences at public schools as potential church members. The Power Team bills itself as "one of the world's greatest evangelistic tools" that uses the athletic gimmicks as the "hook" to get people interested in Christ, according to their website, which is aimed at church pastors nationwide:

"Your church can actually touch every family in your community in one week through our school assemblies, TV programs, promotions and evening crusades ...

"The Power Team crusade is a great idea for a revival meeting or an evangelistic crusade to draw your community into your church. ... (It) challenges young people to make a stand for Christ in their school.

"With our school endorsements and school promotional video, you should be able to get into every school in your community. Usually the budget from the school systems and local businesses cover the sponsorship money for the Power Team being in schools. ...

"The difference about a Power Team crusade than a normal church crusade is that the lost people, uncharted people, come by the thousands."

Roybal said that the church is paying for the Power Team's hotel rooms and food and giving them the donations collected at the five evening performances.

The shows at the church are free, but a $2 "love donation" is requested. The program was provided free to the Clark County schools.

"I'm 50 years old and from the 'old school,' where we could pray in school. But now you can't even say 'God' in school, and I think that's too bad. Some kids have no hope today," Roybal said.

The Power Team's extra motive -- to "lead people to a decision for Christ ... (and) promote leadership of the local church," according to their website -- came as a surprise to Basic High Principal Horace Smith.

"I was unaware that that was their purpose," Smith said. "The purpose is supposed to be to show weight-lifting to my P.E. students and deliver an anti-drug message, and that's it."

He said he worked with the church in arranging the Power Team show and told pastors that there could be no religious messages in the performance.

"The stipulation that I put on it is that there can be no reference to church and no reference to any religion whatsoever. The religion is not what this is about," Smith said.

"I knew they were from the church, but you don't necessarily pass up a good program because of that. We're always looking for good groups to come and speak. I did a little research and thought it would be a good group, but if I'd thought that even 10 percent of it was religious, I wouldn't have done it. We will not allow them to use the school for a membership drive."

Roybal said the anti-drug message is valid and helpful to kids whether they choose to attend the church or not. "If it keeps one teenager out of trouble, it's a good thing," Roybal said.

Cornerstone is an affiliate of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, a conservative Christian organization of churches in 99 countries whose mission is "to present Jesus Christ, God's son, to every person in every culture and nation," according to Foursquare literature.

After breaking a bat over his knee at the Cimarron assembly Thursday, Power Team member Todd Keene told the packed auditorium, "This is just a taste of what we're going to do this weekend. Pick up a flier by the door -- it tells you where we're going to be. We're going to have a guy snap police handcuffs ... light a wall on fire ... every night through Sunday night. I invite you to come out. Invite everybody you know. Invite your families."

He went on to explain the evils of drugs and alcohol and pointed out that Budweiser TV ads are deceptive because "cute little frogs" actually lead to alcoholism.

"I would never try to slip some slippery little message like that by you. You're too smart," Keene told the teens.

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