Six Teens for Christ Rounded Up At GWC!
source unknown, a California newspaper
December 6, 1968, North America
HUNTINGTON BEACH—Six “Teens for Christ”—four males and two females – were arrested at 3 p.m. Friday on a complaint from the dean of students at Golden West College who said the leaflet-distributing religious enthusiasts were “disrupting the school’s campus.”
The six arrested, part of a larger group of hippie-clad teenagers who with their pastor Dave Berg have been making uninvited visits to different county churches for the past eight Sundays, were on the campus at Golden West College handing out leaflets according to Dr. Dale L. Miller.
Dr. Miller said he requested the group to leave but they continued to distribute leaflets, so he called police. Six officers arrived at the campus and took the teenagers to the Huntington Beach police station for booking.
The six were booked on charges of interfering with the peaceful conduct of school activities and for refusing to leave the premises when legally asked to do so, police said.
As of late Friday night the six were held in Orange County jail in lieu of $125 bail each, according to police.
“GOD’S WILL”
Daniel Anderson, 22, manager of the Light Club, 116 Main St. headquarters of the sect, explained the arrests as “God’s will.”
“The Lord has a plan for our every action. We are praying for our brothers and sisters that the Lord Jesus makes them strong witnesses in their jail cells,” he said.
“We believe in our nation and the Constitution. The free exercise of religion is a basic freedom. We shall continue to speak to others of our faith,” he added.
Michael Barbour, 19, one of seven other passing out leaflets said police were seeking an excuse to “bust us.” “They gave us only 60 seconds to get off campus and six of the group didn’t make it,” he said.
Anderson reported Berg had been informed of the arrests at his home where the 49-year-old leader of the group has been confined because of illness.
SAME THINGS
Contacted by telephone, Berg said the arrests were “understandable.” “The same things are happening to us as happened to Jesus and his 12 hippies,” he added.
“They wanted to bust us, and they’ll have to kill us to stop us. We haven’t begun to fight,” Berg avowed.
Pastor Robert H. Schuller of the Garden Grove Community Church has branded Berg an “unloving, publicity-mad, false prophet who seeks only to destroy.”
Berg has countered that the large, drive-in church is a “temple of hypocrisy primarily staffed with temple guards, [scribes] and pharisees.”