Tiny town breaks out in civil war as leaders BAN Christian church from using amphitheater for Sunday prayers for the first time in 40 YEARS

A small Colorado town is embroiled in a national debate after it stopped a church from using its amphitheater for Sunday prayers.

City officials in Dillon blocked all non-city-sponsored groups from using the space — including the Dillon Community Church, which has hosted events there for 42 years — after being inundated with rental applications.

The decision has catapulted the city of 1,000 residents to the center of a debate over worship in public facilities.

Pressure groups on both sides are threatening lawsuits, with some demanding that the Church be given special dispensation to meet, while others dismiss the preferential access as a “Christian privilege.”

City Manager Nathan Johnson told The Denver Post: ‘There must be a separation between church and state. We cannot favor one denomination over another.”

The amphitheater was built in 1993 and renovated in 2018 into a prime location, with views over the water and mountains beyond.

Dillon Community Church has been hosting their worship events there for decades, paying $1,100 annually in rent and drawing more than 300 people a week.

Earlier this year, other groups, including a synagogue and Native American tribes, asked the council to use the space.

Johnson told The Post, “Everyone is drawn to the lake, the natural beauty of the lake.”

The council can’t accept everyone, he said, and they had to put the other groups on hold: ‘Now that the location is so popular, more and more people are getting in touch with us. Everyone wants to be down there.”

The problem, he said, is that “an expectation has been created” by allowing the Church to use the space for their events.

He added: “We haven’t said ‘no’ to anyone – at least I know that.

‘We want to receive clear and definitive guidelines from the municipal council on what is and is not allowed in this setting.’

“If we want to open the amphitheater, we have to open it to everyone.”

City Manager Nathan Johnson told The Denver Post, “There needs to be a separation between church and state. We cannot favor one denomination over another.”

The problem, he said, is that “an expectation has been created” by allowing the Church to use the space for their events

At an original meeting on the matter on June 11, the council voted 5-1 to grant the church special access to the site.

But after the public backlash ridiculed “Christian privilege” and Dillon’s Denver contract attorney Kathleen Kelly resigned over the decision, the council was forced to backtrack.

Now they have temporarily blocked all third-party access – including the church – while they determine a legally defensible usage policy.

Former council member Tim Westerberg denounced what he sees as political tactics by the council, saying, “They don’t seem to care about what the Constitution says.

“They’re just damn torpedoes shooting away at full speed and bulldozing our agenda forward.”

Members of the church have united in response to the council’s decision and have called for access for all religious groups.

Church representative Wendy Myers said, “Dillon Community Church should be included in any contract. They’ve been here for over 40 years.

“It attracts an incredible number of our visitors who come to the county every summer and enjoy coming to church.”

Dillon Community Church has been hosting their worship events there for over forty years, paying $1,100 annually in rent and attracting over 300 people per week

The council must now carefully deal with possible lawsuits on both sides.

Madeline Ziegler, an attorney for the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, told The Post that if city officials have excluded religious groups, members of that group could file a civil rights lawsuit.

She said the city’s historic preferential treatment has “sent a message to the city’s residents that their government favors Christianity and that Christians will be treated better than other people in this city.”

‘That is not a message that the representatives should send out.’

On the other hand, Lea Patterson of the Texas-based First Liberty Institute urged the congregation to grant the church access to avoid a lawsuit.

DailyMail.com reached out to the city manager and Dillon Community Church for comment.