UPDATE::No More ‘Jesus Pizza:’ Court Tells Colo. Cowboy Church To Hit The Trail | Americans United

The Cowboy Church of the Crossroads may no longer meet in a public high school, according to the terms of a new settlement. ABC 7 reports that a federal court issued a consent decree that requires Florence, Co.,-based church to find a new home.

The settlement ends a legal battle between the Fremont RE-2 School District and a former teacher over Florence High School’s alleged promotion of the church.

According to Robert Basevitz, Florence administrators had allowed the church to rent its facilities on Sunday and granted its pastor, Randy Pfaff, broad access to students during the school day.

In his complaint, Basevitz described what amounts to a laundry list of constitutional violations. School administrators distributed the church’s literature to students and advertised its events over an official public address system. Pfaff was allowed to use a classroom during the lunch hour to host something students called “Jesus Pizza.” The content, as you can likely gather from the name, was exclusively religious, and offered pizza as an incentive to participate.

The school even allowed the pastor and his flock to host a daily prayer circle in front of its entrance. The circle became so large, Basevitz alleged, that it eventually blocked the school’s entrance.

No More ‘Jesus Pizza:’ Court Tells Colo. Cowboy Church To Hit The Trail | Americans United