This story was republished with permission by Riverton Ranger/WyoToday Media.
After a controversial sermon earlier this month that called for Northern Arapaho Tribal members to denounce their traditional ways, the Northern Arapaho Business Council told leaders from Foundations For Nations Church on July 10 to leave the reservation.
Since the outcry over the pastor’s statements, the church, which was erected on the Wind River Reservation outside Riverton in 2017, quickly doubled down. Services were held on Sunday, and church leaders essentially said they were prepared to battle the removal directive in court.
“We are standing firmly on the truth of the Word of God concerning idol worship,” church leaders wrote to members following intense backlash and protest over the sermon. Foundations For Nations described “ongoing death threats and threats to burn our church,” but said its leaders would hold firm.
The message from the church sought donations from supporters to fund an anticipated legal battle ahead. Church leaders asserted they own the church property, “and legally we cannot be removed in this manner,” they wrote. “We are in contact with legal counsel and are preparing to pursue this in federal court as soon as possible in order to uphold our Constitutional rights to preach the Gospel … We are not stopping.”
Northern Arapaho member Andi LeBeau served in the Wyoming House. She felt shock and anger when she saw the video of Lucas’ sermon.
“My ancestors had a relationship with the Creator before Wyoming was Wyoming,” LeBeau said. “That relationship carried us through famine, war, removal, boarding schools, and every attempt to erase us. We do not ask Christians to abandon their faith. We ask for the same respect in return.”
She said that while her first reaction was anger, she hoped people would remain civil.
“If someone stood in [Lucas’] church and publicly said the Bible was false, Jesus was not the only way, and Christians should abandon their faith because Arapaho spirituality was the only truth, would it be received as an act of love? Most Christians would say no,” LeBeau said.
LeBeau said if the church decides to fight the eviction, the tribe has a long history of standing up for itself in court.
The sermon
On July 5, the last day of the Northern Arapaho Sundance, Foundations For Nations Pastor Sarah Lucas took to the pulpit and told tribal members they must denounce “false idols” and their traditional ways. She took issue with the tribe’s sacred pipe used in the Sundance ceremony, and called forth several parishioners – including a Crow man from Montana – to give testimony about how they had turned away from tribal spiritual practices.
“I pray as the people coming out of Sundance – today is their last day, Father God. They’re going back into community, Father God,” Lucas said. “You have generations, generations, centuries of people doing this offering, going in and being – making – vows to change Father God. And we see no fruit.”
Lucas described a busy week for the church full of kids’ programming, “extravagant work” done on one of the church’s buildings, and 16 people baptized. “But are we fighting the spiritual temperature in the atmosphere?” she asked. “Where it says ‘tear down the altars, tear down the idols?’ And this nation gathered this week and they prayed, and they prayed to pipes, and prayed to their ancestors, believing that this is their way for their freedom, to get free from addiction, for people to be healed from their sickness, and this is what this culture did this week … Jesus is the chain-breaker, He is the only God that we should be praying to. The pipe cannot hear your prayers. It’s just a piece of material, right? And this is a cycle that they’re caught up in, and this is all they’ve ever known. And the Lord is saying ‘tear down the idols, tear down the altars, the idol worship.’”
The backlash was swift and hasn’t let up since.
Protest
By Tuesday, videos of the sermon had circulated and gone viral online, with tribal members decrying what they felt was an attack on Arapaho traditional and spiritual practices. The video has since been taken down.
The sermon, said many, recalled a shameful time in the U.S. when families were forced to send their children to Indian boarding schools, where they were forced to cut their hair and were punished for using their Native languages and cultural traditions. Many children were abused or killed at these boarding schools. The attempt to eliminate Native American culture sparked generational trauma still felt today.
People jumped to action, quickly organizing a protest that began at the Foundations For Nations Church on the reservation. Bureau of Indian Affairs officers arrived and taped off the church property as more and more people arrived. The Tuesday protest then moved to the church’s food bank in Riverton, then to the parking lot at City Hall, where attendees held signs and held a circle dance.
The growing cry for an apology from church leaders quickly morphed into another message: Get out.
“There is no coming back from what she said. If she truly values her relationship with the community, she will do the respectful thing and take her leave,” Jennifer Fienhold wrote in response to the sermon. “I don’t mean from social media or from any future ceremonies. I mean quite literally, pack her things and leave.”
“I do know we hurt your people,” Lucas reportedly wrote in a text message about the outcry over the sermon. She said she wanted to meet with the business council before issuing a response, and that her first priority was to get her family to safety amid death threats. “I understand the anger, and I do care to address the community. I love your community despite what everyone thinks of me.”
‘Deep spiritual darkness over this land’
Foundations For Nations leaders described the meeting with the Northern Arapaho Business Council in their letter to church members as “marked by intense opposition.” The church was ordered by the business council to leave.
Instead, church was held on Sunday as protestors voiced their opposition. Rather than deliver a public statement, Foundations For Nations reshared a post from another church, The Crossing at NWI, on its Facebook page Monday. “Every culture must bow to King Jesus,” the post said. “The gospel is not called to conform to culture. Culture is called to conform to Christ.”
More than a hundred comments were posted, with local tribal members and others around the country offering criticism of the church’s stance. “You do not get to tell anyone how, what or where to pray. That chair is only meant for God,” remarked Rylie Merta. “And remember, for the way you judge others, you will be judged the same.”
The only public comments made by the church since the sermon came in the comments of The Crossings’ post, with Foundations For Nations responding to several remarks posted. “My heart in sharing this is not to condemn anyone, but to point people to the hope that is found in Jesus Christ alone,” the church said in response to questions about the way Christians are seen as praying to a cross.
In other comments, Foundations For Nations expressed frustration over threats of violence made on social media, sharing screenshots of comments referring to burning down the church, “throwing hands” and using violence against church leaders.
A video that circulated on social media last weekend appeared to show Foundations For Nations leaders transporting a large rifle in a case from the church to the back of an SUV. “No wonder we have to carry guns,” the church wrote in the Facebook comment thread. “But keep agitating the protestors, you are part of the problem!”
In another comment, Foundations For Nations described the harassment the church and its parishioners have faced. “Your protestors aren’t peaceful! Yelling profanity at churchgoers going into church. Driving onto the property at the end of service, trying to block our exits. Flipping us off as we leave! The threats of danger and violence that your protestors are writing on their signs or social media post[s] do not show you are a peaceful people!”
The church’s letter to members, sent late last week seeking donations, also pointed to trouble ahead. “We also ask for your earnest prayers. There is deep spiritual darkness over this land, but we are confident in the promise that ‘more are for us than against us’ (2 Kings 6:16). Please pray for protection, wisdom, favor, and breakthrough as we press forward in obedience to God’s calling.”
Bad man clause
The tribes’ treaty with the U.S. government includes a “bad man clause” that empowers the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes to banish people from reservation land. It’s unclear whether that treaty right was invoked during the Northern Arapaho Business Council’s meeting with church officials, or whether that might require action from the Intertribal Council or General Council.
What is clear is Foundations For Nations’ assertion that it will fight efforts to remove the church in federal court. “This matter is now moving toward the courts,” church leaders wrote in their letter to members, adding that they are preparing to take legal action in federal court.
Foundations For Nations did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
