Praising the lord!

Praising Lord sounds like noise to church's neighbors

MASSILLON, Ohio (AP) -- The glory, praise and screams coming from a northeast Ohio church have prompted its neighbors to petition the city about the noise.

But church members contend they're being harassed because of the way they worship.

"Sunday morning is God's day of worship," the Rev. Troy Sowell said. "I'm not going to tell this congregation, 'You're being too loud.'"

Sowell, senior pastor at Worshippers of Christ the Warrior King Church, says he's open to finding a solution, but is not going to forfeit his right to worship God.

Volume has been an issue since the congregation moved in last year, said Jerena Copeland, an associate pastor.

Police responded to noise complaints three straight days during a revival last year.

Resident Richard Laase, who signed the petition, said he welcomes the church in the neighborhood, but contends that sometimes the worshippers get too loud, including during the revival.

"I thought there was a fight outside. There was screaming going on. I have no problem with their religion, but when you can hear it half a block way, you the need to close the windows," Laase said. "I've been a resident here 15 years. It was kind of disturbing to me, but if that's their belief, that's what they want to do, that's fine by me."

Copeland said the church closed its doors and windows, but the complaints have continued.

"Sunday was 75 degrees," Sowell said. "The neighbors' doors and windows were open; (from) some you could hear what they were watching on TV. With 50 members, we're one of the smallest churches, but yet we're the noisiest?"

Sowell says that spouting has been pulled from the building, light bulbs have been stolen, and beer bottles have been found wedged beneath the tires of members' vehicles.

Church members recently met with police chief Robert Williams.

"I'm still hoping for an amicable, diplomatic solution," said Williams, an ordained minister and the son of a pastor.

Williams said the church, which was built in 1954, does not have a buffer such as a large parking lot separating it from the surrounding houses.

The problem appears to be unique.

Nisha Mohammed, a spokeswoman for the Rutherford Institute, a religious-freedom advocacy group in Washington, D.C., said the issue has not been one the agency's encountered.

"Most of the cases we've dealt with have been zoning issues, such as parking lots, or church expansion," she said. "To my knowledge, we haven't come across such a case."

Church administrative assistant Gerald Woods argues that the city's noise ordinance is violated every time a canon is set off to celebrate a touchdown made by the Washington High School football team inside Paul Brown Stadium.

"It's a predominately white neighborhood. We're a predominately black church. That's the problem," he said.

Neighbor Reginald Winters disagrees.

"They have a sound system over there that is very loud," Winters said. "I'm in my house with the door shut, and literally, my windows are vibrating in my house. ... This year, it's started right back up."

Winters said he recently spoke with another associate pastor, the Rev. Eugene Copeland - Jerena Copeland's husband.

"I explained to him, 'I'm an African-American myself. This is not a racist neighborhood,'" Winters said. "I told him, 'Nobody dislikes you because you're a black congregation. It's nothing like that. Just turn down the volume a little bit.'"

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