A dispute over a bible study group in a small Texas town has been ordered into mediation by the judge presiding over the lawsuit.  The two parties, the Whitney Independent School District (ISD) and the Prairie Valley Baptist Church entered into the lawsuit over the church’s attempts to establish an on-campus bible study.

The church made arrangements for their ministry to meet at the end of every school day, on campus, and advertised the meetings in an attempt to attract students to the ministry.  The ISD objected to the meetings as the group was not sanctioned or supervised by school administrators or staff, and cited a general policy against non-sanctioned groups on school property.  The church categorized this objection as onerous and filed suit to force the school to allow the meetings to occur.  The church also pointed out that other groups were allowed to meet on campus and use school facilities after classes, including a Zumba exercise class and a sign language class.

After a temporary restraining order was issued, the bible study was allowed to meet on campus after all.  The school district maintains that the bible study would be allowed if the church would simply follow the established rules of requesting space use and agree to a time period when the facilities are normally used for non-school functions, but states that the church has ignored these requests and insisted on pursuing legal action.

If the ordered mediation does not result in a settlement, the judge will render a decision on the matter.