Tornado Alley (PROG)

[F6]

Dauphin County Church Used Mock Kidnapping to Teach Christian Youth Group Lesson

Video [embedded]3/22 Church Simulated Kidnapping
Church Simulated Kidnapping

Lesson a little too realistic for some,"We Were Shoved into Van"

Eric Gemmell
9:59 p.m. EDT, March 22, 2012

Lower Swatara Township (Dauphin County) -— It was meant to be a lesson in Christianity, but for one Dauphin County teen, the lesson may have gone too far.

14-year-old Riley Noble* of Middletown, was one of a group of teens at Wednesday’s youth group at the Glad Tidings Assembly of God Church in Lower Swatara Township.

After a few minutes, Noble said, “We were playing games – the lights shut off – these guys came in with bandanas – eyes covered.”

At the same time, the men began screaming and yelling and waving fake guns, “Get to the ground – and put your hands behind your back.”

Unknowingly, Noble nor her parent knew she was part of a mock abduction lead by the church’s youth minister Andrew Jordan.

“She was bound, pillow cases over their head – thrown into a van,” said Noble’s mother, Jennifer.

Andrew Jordan and Senior Pastor John Lanza defend the lesson.

“We did a mock persecuted church environment,” said Lanza and was meant to teach their students what life is like as a Christian where freedom of religion is not honored.

Jordan said the mock environment had been in the works since the beginning of the year, “The majority of our students had a positive experience.”

While the church defends the lesson, “As challenging as that experience was our hope was it was to be a positive experience,” said Lanza.

Noble said it was too realistic, “Am I going to see my family again – am I going to die?”

Meanwhile, Noble did suffer some minor injuries during the mock abduction; her mother has threatened to report the incident to police.

*Per request of the family Noble is not the victim's real name

*

Related

The Hunks of Fox
Another perk of watching Fox programming? We get to ogle these guys

http://www.fox43.com/shows/fox/sns-shows-fox-hot-men-pictures,0,5285855.photogallery

*

Copyright © 2012, WPMT-TV

http://www.fox43.com/news/wpmt-dauphin-county-church-used-mock-kidnapping-to-teach-youth-group-lesson-about-christianity-20120322,0,7424810.story [with comment]


===


SE Pa. Church Holds Mock Kidnapping on Youth Group

By KEVIN BEGOS Associated Press
PITTSBURGH March 24, 2012 (AP)

A southeastern Pennsylvania church subjected members of a youth group to a mock kidnapping and interrogations without telling them it was staged, and the outraged mother of one 14-year-old girl has filed a complaint with police.

The pastor of the Glad Tidings Assembly of God in Middletown said the church is "so saddened" that the girl was traumatized at the Wednesday evening youth meeting.

But the pastor, John Lanza, said Friday there have been emails of support from other students at the church, about 10 miles southeast of Harrisburg, because the intent was to prepare them for what they might encounter as missionaries. He didn't disclose the names of those involved but said the mock kidnappers included an off-duty police officer and a retired Army captain.

"It was a youth event, to illustrate what others have encountered on a regular basis," he said, adding that the focus of the lesson was "the persecuted church" in other countries.

Lanza said there were about 17 students at the meeting and the mock kidnappers covered the students' heads, put them in a van and interrogated them. Neither the students nor their parents were told about the raid beforehand, he said, though it was discussed with the parents of one youth who might have health issues.

TV station WHTM interviewed the girl who complained.

"They pulled my chair out from underneath me, and then they told me to get on the ground," she told the station. "I had my hands behind my back. They said, 'Just do as I say, and you won't be hurt.'"

The girl said the teens were taken to the pastor's house, where it appeared he was being assaulted. Eventually, she said, the adults in charge revealed it was a staged event.

"They heard me crying," the girl said. "Why not right then and there tell us it was a joke, when you see me crying?"

Lanza said the church has conducted similar events at least twice before, adding that "there was much thought given to the safety aspect."

"If anyone was ever uncomfortable, they would be removed" from the exercise, Lanza said, though part of the idea was to shock the students with the experience.

Lower Swatara Township police Chief Richard Wiley declined to comment until an investigation into the raid is complete. The names of the mother and daughter who complained haven't been made public.

There could be consequences if the teens didn't know what was going to happen and didn't agree to be a part of the event, Dauphin County First Deputy District Attorney Fran Chardo said.

"It's extremely disturbing," Chardo told WHTM.

Tom Copeland, who studies international affairs and terrorism at Geneva College, a Beaver Falls school that emphasizes a "Christian worldview," questioned the wisdom of submitting a youth group to a mock kidnapping.

"It just seems inappropriate for that age group. You would think there would be permission from the parents," Copeland said, adding that he's never heard of anything like that happening at a church.

He said that while there have been highly publicized episodes of violence directed against Christian missionaries in other countries, it seems those countries' local religious groups are more at risk.

One security expert said role-playing training is sometimes conducted "at the quasi-military level" for groups that are going to work in war zones.

Daniel Karson, chairman of business intelligence and investigations at Kroll, a worldwide risk consulting company with headquarters in New York, said the idea of conflict zone training "is to acclimate someone to a possible situation that might arise." The training might involve everything from what items they should take to the country to a review of who they're meeting and security conditions there, he said.

Lanza said members of the church have made numerous mission trips overseas and have learned to be cautious. He said they were planning a trip to Mexico but reviewed current news and advisories and decided it was unsafe.

Lanza said he "would love to" apologize to the girl and her mother but feels he can't until the police investigation is done. He said the church wants to keep doing the program but would make changes.

"I would find a way that we could continue to keep the shock value," he said, "but I would find a way to inform the parents (beforehand)."

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/pa-church-conducts-mock-kidnapping-youth-group-15991276 [no comments yet] [also at e.g. http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/pa-church-subjects-youth-group-to-mock-kidnap-interrogation-outraged-mom-files-complaint/2012/03/23/gIQAUBSmWS_story.html (with comment)]


===


(linked in):

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=73643097 and preceding and following

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=73623386 and following

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=73593861 and preceding (and future following)

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=73587758 and preceding and following; http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=73584564 and preceding and following

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=73455498 and preceding and following

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=73406169 and following

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=72863493 and preceding and following

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=72562416 and preceding and following

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=72429366 and preceding and following

http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=32639759 and preceding and following