Jury Acquits Pro-Life Pastor in Unusual Trial!

On Friday, September 12, 2003, after almost a year of legal wrangling, a jury of 12 found Pastor Jim Grove NOT GUILTY of disorderly conduct. That charge was accompanied by three summary charges (that are heard only by a judge) of harassment, and two charges relating to failure to file a permit.

The charges stem from a preaching event last October 27th, in which Full Quiver Mission joined our good friend Pastor Jim Grove, pastor of Heritage Baptist Church of Loganville, PA. The event was a York city-sponsored Halloween Parade that is held every year. Pastor Grove and members of his congregation have, for the previous four years, gotten in front of the parade before it starts, and walked down the middle of the road carrying scripture signs, handing out literature while Pastor Grove preaches. Last year Full Quiver Mission brought along our giant bloody photographs of aborted children. We felt that since the theme of their parade was death, and many of their floats had ghoulish and bloody depictions on them, it would be a most appropriate venue.

We walked down the parade route for about eight blocks with police looking on, but were stopped and forced up onto the sidewalk at that point. The crowd became agitated as Bruce Evan Murch and Pastor Jim Grove discussed the situation with police, and verbal confrontations erupted.

After telling us that we could proceed down the sidewalk (but not on the street) we did so, but immediately the police came up to the Murch children and forcibly removed the signs from their hands, put them in a squad car, and took off with them. The full story of that day's events can be seen HERE.

Through Pastor Grove, Bruce demanded the return of the signs, or a federal lawsuit would be following. The City's answer to that demand was to file charges against Pastor Grove a month after the event! But wait! It gets even more curious!

Pastor Grove had a preliminary hearing on his charges in February in Magistrate's Court. At that hearing, all of Pastor Grove's witnesses except two were expelled from the building because of "overcrowding". The Murch Family, in protest of this, decided to do a sign witness right in front of the Magistrate's Office, and immediately set up the signs, causing a stir in the city, and drawing more attention to the Pastor's case.

Coinciding with this event, we filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court alleging violation of our First, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights: Our right to free speech and the free expression of our religion; the right to be secure in our persons, papers and affects; and the right to equal protection under the law. We applied for an Emergency Temporary Restraining Order against the York Police, because we were planning to do another sign witness right after Pastor Grove's hearing. The Judge granted the Emergency Temporary Restraining Order! A detailed report of the events of that day can be seen HERE.

During the trial, Police called as witnesses the very people that had made threats of bodily harm against Pastor Grove and Sam Murch (14). They each took an oath to tell the truth "before God, the searcher of all hearts" and that they would be accountable to God "on the Great Day" for their answers! It was the best court oath we had ever heard! But they lied anyway, accusing the Murch children of "shoving signs in peoples' faces" and "throwing literature at people when they didn't want it". For three days, the Commonwealth trooped a cacophony of lies from a wide assortment of God-hating citizens.

Then it was our turn. Bruce Evan Murch was the first witness, who described what the ministry of Full Quiver Mission is about. He spoke of our mission to change peoples' minds and hearts about the horrors of abortion, and pointed out that we could never accomplish that mission by "shoving signs in peoples' faces". He also pointed out that Full Quiver Mission was a separate ministry from Pastor Grove, and operated independently and that we are the owners of the offensive signs which Pastor Grove was being prosecuted for using. Several of Pastor Grove's church members also testified, including his wife, Pearl Grove who shot video of the whole event. The jury got to see the video and hear what was actually taking place.

Pastor Grove requested that he be allowed to "demonstrate what street preaching really is" and in a rare exhibition in court, was allowed to preach for a full minute, calling the crowd to repentance and faith Jesus Christ the Son of God! In his closing arguments, Pastor Grove brought out a chain. He told the jury that they were going to put the chains on either the State or the Preacher. And that if they put the chains on the preacher, they were putting them on themselves. He also confessed that he was "GUILTY!" He said, I am guilty of being a God-called preacher. Guilty of preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. Guilty of caring for these little babies (as he pointed to one of our posters), guilty of actually DOING something to try to protect them.

The jury was charged and sent out. The judge, reportedly a known lesbian, and hostile to Pastor Grove from the outset, immediately found him NOT GUILTY of the three summary charges, and quickly exited the courtroom. The jury deliberated about two hours. When it was announced that the jury had reached a verdict, the entire District Attorney's Office ran upstairs to see. The courtroom was packed as the Foreman read the Verdict, "NOT GUILTY"!

Afterwards, court personnel and even those from the DA's office came to congratulate Pastor Grove, telling him that they had been rooting for him. One of the Deputy D.A.s revealed that nobody had wanted to take this case, and that even the police officers did not want to issue the arrest warrants, but were forced to by superiors. The Deputy DA that prosecuted Pastor Grove was a 30-something ambitious lawyer who I think would have prosecuted his own mother. He now has the notoriety of having LOST a case to a popular preacher who defended himself in court! God does have a sense of retributive humor.

This victory sets the stage perfectly for our Federal Lawsuit against the City of York due for trial in February. The result will be the freedom of Christians in Pennsylvania to display these signs without a permit from any city! Please pray for our efforts.

Full Quiver Mission plans to return to York on September 23 to reclaim our confiscated signs. We will be bringing another 25 people or so with us, and will set those signs up immediately in the City Square! Contact us if you would like to be involved in this lunch-time event! May God be Praised for the Victory!

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO HELP FULL QUIVER MISSION AND THE MURCH FAMILY AS THEY CONTINUE IN THE WORK, PLEASE CLICK THE "CONTACT US" LINK ABOVE FOR DETAILS. MAY JESUS' NAME BE MAGNIFIED IN ALL WE DO!