Pilgrims Covenant Church - Please send the SWAT team again!

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June 17, 2002
Please, send the SWAT team again!

Saturday, June 15, Wisconsin Christians United was back on the parking lot and one-mile gravel walk-way of the Mazo nude beach. About eighty Christians met to pray, hand out gospel tracts, preach, and hold signs with biblical messages. Nudists walking to the beach to get naked at taxpayers' expense had to walk a 3/4-mile-long "gospel gauntlet" of signs and preachers. This was the first WCU event since Pastor Ovadal was sentenced to a $1,000 fine and court costs several weeks ago for preaching on the Mazo Beach parking lot.

The ministry event began at 10:00 AM and lasted until 5:15 PM. At approximately 1:15 PM, without warning or any apparent reason, a Dane County Sheriff SWAT team arrived on the scene with a large paddy wagon and, complete with billy clubs, formed up around the WCU Christians who were eating lunch at the time!

In response, the Christians sang a number of hymns and prayed. Pastor Ovadal also delivered a sermon dealing with matters of God-given authority, law, and the role of Christians in standing for righteousness no matter the cost.

By the time the impromptu open-air church service was done, a noticeable softening in the originally tense, hostile-appearing SWAT team officers was apparent. The Christians then returned to their gospel gauntlet set up; and the rest of the afternoon, SWAT team officers escorted nudists to the beach. However, during that entire time, the officers were again exposed to gospel preaching. After a time, a friendly rapport had developed between the SWAT team and WCU. One officer told a WCU Christian, "You people are nothing like what they told us you are. We can see that you are the ones who need to be protected, not the beach users." Another officer commented, "Just so you know, we don't like the beach either." Several officers also expressed genuine concern for the Christians manning the gospel gauntlet, for instance, reminding them to drink plenty of water and regularly checking with older people to make sure they were doing all right. Late in the day, Regional Warden John Glennon arrived on the scene, the first DNR official to do so. Mr. Glennon appeared to be somewhat chagrined over the friendly relations that had developed between WCU and the Dane County Sheriff's SWAT team.

"Given the way the SWAT team originally came on like gangbusters and in light of what several of them told us, it is obvious to me that the DNR had clearly misrepresented the Christians with WCU to someone in the Dane County Sheriff Department who then briefed the SWAT team. I wish to commend those officers with the SWAT team who policed our ministry event Saturday. It was a breath of fresh air to watch professional police officers at work after having to deal with Department of Natural Resources officers for over three years. I hope that the SWAT team polices every WCU event at Mazo Beach from now on."
Pastor Ralph Ovadal, Director, Wisconsin Christians United

This web site contains references to Wisconsin Christians United (WCU). That ministry, which was founded by Ralph Ovadal in 1993, has been included as a ministry of Pilgrims Covenant Church since April 1, 2005. Those who desire to support the ministry of Pilgrims Covenant Church may send their gifts to PCC, P.O. Box 314, Monroe, WI 53566. Those who desire to support a specific ministry effort of PCC, such as "The Heart of the Matter" or the cost of the literature which we distribute, should be sure to designate that when sending their gifts.