The ongoing Youth for Christ (YFC) matter in Leland Township took a turn last week, when the plaintiffs of a recent federal civil-rights lawsuit against Leland Township — Apollos Properties owners’ James and Elizabeth VanSteenhouse, and youth pastors Micah and Kya Cramer — asked the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan to issue a preliminary injunction to allow YFC meetings to resume at The Lighthouse while the case proceeds.
Stated in a Sept. 18 press release, the motion asks the court “to prevent Leland Township and its officials from interfering with students and others who wish to gather for prayer, Bible study, fellowship and other youth ministry activities” at the North Lake Street property owned by VanSteenhouse while the case is pending. YFC meetings at the North Lake Street property have been suspended since last October, when the township determined that the YFC club could not continue meeting at the property.
“The students have already lost nearly a year in a place that was created for them,” said Jim VanSteenhouse in the recent press release. “We are asking the court to allow them to return to The Lighthouse while the larger constitutional questions are decided.”
