By Ethan Forman
DANVERS — A former School Committee candidate says representatives of The Gideons International crossed the line by handing out small orange Bibles to middle-schoolers after school Monday, despite what some say is their First Amendment right to do so.
The individuals stood on the sidewalk across from Holten Richmond Middle School on Conant Street, off school grounds.
School officials and police were on hand to watch as six or eight members of the Gideons passed out the Bibles, but they said they did not see anything amiss.
The Nashville, Tenn.-based, inter-denominational association of Christian businessmen and professionals dates back more than 100 years, according to its Web site. Gideons belong to Protestant-evangelical churches with a mission of distributing the New Testament in 180 countries. The group aims to distribute 2 billion Bibles by 2020, and their Bibles are fixtures for travelers in most hotel and motel rooms.
"Approaching them or being across the street of any school of children of that age is crossing a boundary that shouldn't be crossed," Alan Vervaeke said. He said his 13-year-old stepson came home with the Bible, and then he and his wife made inquiries of school officials.
Vervaeke said it should be up to parents, not missionary groups, to shepherd their children's spirituality. He objected to literature in the back of the Bible that asked students if they believed in God and if they were sinners or not. He said the Bibles were passed to students without regard for their "native religion."
"These kids are minors," Vervaeke said. "If someone walked up to my child in the mall and started proselytizing, I would get in the way and say: 'There is a time and a place for everything.'" He said missionary groups should stay away from public schools where kids come and go without parents escorting them.
"My understanding is numerous parents contacted the school with complaints about this," Vervaeke said.
"I did receive a complaint from one parent, and e-mails and phone calls from a few others," Principal Michael Cali said in an e-mail to The Salem News. "The group in question was not on school property. I, along with other school administrators and the Danvers Police Department, was present outside throughout the afternoon.
"As you know, the right for people to assemble and distribute literature on public property is the cornerstone of the First Amendment of the Constitution."
Police spokesman Sgt. Robert Bettencourt said the Gideons wrote a letter to the schools that says they planned to distribute Bibles outside the middle school and Danvers High, but Bettencourt did not know when that handout would take place.
"They did seek acknowledgement they would be there, and they were off school property, on the sidewalks, handing them out for anyone that was taking them," Bettencourt said.
Bettencourt and school resource officer Olivia Silva were both on hand to make sure there were no issues. Silva later received three or four phone calls from parents wondering what the Gideons were doing.
"One parent was concerned that they (students) would take something from a stranger," Bettencourt said.
"Working with DanversCares, the Danvers Police Department and parents, we continue to educate our children about dealing with strangers who approach them whether on school property or about the community," Cali said in his e-mail.
The Gideons were respectful, didn't intrude on students, did not act aggressively and acted professionally, Bettencourt said.
"Why the urgency to increase the distribution of Bibles and New Testaments?" the Gideons' Web site says. "The Word of God is coming under attack more and more — all around the globe. Now is the time to take advantage of the opportunities still available to distribute Bibles and New Testaments."
Steve Smith, the director of communications for Gideons International, said there is a long-standing policy not to comment "on scripture distribution activities."
Staff writer Ethan Forman can be reached at 978-338-2673 or eforman@salemnews.com.
