Former Employees Sue Indiana Paper for Religious Discrimination

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TBN's Acquisition Of 'Holy Land Experience' Theme Park Seeks To Change More Lives

June 9, 2007 ORLANDO -- Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), the world's largest religious broadcaster and America's most-watched faith channel, hopes to change more lives through its addition of the "Holy Land Experience" theme park in Orlando, Fl., to the TBN family. Through the acquisition, TBN will bring an integration of the powerful living recreation of ancient Jerusalem with a cutting edge facility that will be used for television production, dramas, musical concerts, special events and movies.

"This marriage will bring an unprecedented synergy to both ministries and the production that is done there will be seen by a worldwide audience. TBN's involvement made sense, because both ministries are about changing and effecting people's lives. We've been doing that for 34 years," said Paul Crouch, Jr., TBN Vice President of Administration. "We believe this opportunity was heaven sent because it bought TBN an Orlando-based facility to fulfill it's local programming obligations for WGTL CH-52 and it will provide "The Holy Land Experience" with much needed promotion to bring more people to the theme park and Orlando as a whole."

The Holy Land Experience could well be considered Orlando's most inspiring destination as visitors experience a full day of discovery that takes them 2,000 years back in time to the world of the Bible. It brings to life ancient Israel as a unique, thriving world filled with fascinating exhibits and venues. Visitors learn about the Wilderness Tabernacle and the Great Temple; discover the amazing history of the Bible; explore the city of Jerusalem in miniature; see re-enactments of Jesus' ministry, His life, death, and resurrection; and feel the power and passion of our original musical productions.

WGTL TV, Channel 52, has a reach of over four million viewers in the Orlando and Cocoa Beach metropolitan areas with TBN's wide range of innovative faith-based programming. In October of 2006, TBN celebrated the inaugural broadcast of WGTL Ch-52 in Orlando with a dedicatory service attended by TBN founders Paul and Jan Crouch, Pastor Benny Hinn, Singer and Preacher Judy Jacobs hosted by Pastor George Cope and Calvary Assembly in Winter Park, Fl.

The combination of the production facilities and the Holy Land Experience offers Orlando visitors a powerful and unique faith based experience that can be promoted worldwide through the TBN network. The promotional capability can drive visitors to the complex.

"Some of the staff was asking what is going to be the immediate effect here at the park and my answer was 'I'm planning on you having more people coming through the turnstiles this summer,'" said Crouch. "Universal Studios does the same thing. We want the 'Holy Land Experience' to be a faith-based version of that."

About TBN
TBN is the world's largest religious network and America's most watched faith network. Each day TBN offers 24 hours of commercial-free inspirational programming that appeals to people in a wide variety of denominations. Beginning in 1973 as a single UHF station in southern California, TBN now reaches every major continent via 65 satellites and more than 12,500 television and cable affiliates worldwide. In the United States, TBN is available to 92 percent of the total households. Its website receives more than 27 million visitors monthly. For more information on TBN, visit www.tbn.org

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WDC MEDIA NEWS
Christian News and Media Agency

Former Employees Sue Indiana Paper for Religious Discrimination

2006-09-07 -- WDC Media News --

(AgapePress) - Two former employees of a major metropolitan newspaper in Indiana are charging in a federal lawsuit that they were demoted and fired for their Christian beliefs.

James Patterson and Lisa Coffey worked for years on the editorial board of The Indianapolis News. They were transferred to the sister paper, The Indianapolis Star, when the News folded. But in a Title VII religious discrimination lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Coffey and Patterson claim that, when the newspaper was bought by the Gannett publishing company, homosexual and pro-homosexual management were installed.

Both Coffey and Patterson had excellent performance reviews for years. But according to Coffey, she was demoted and he was eventually terminated because of their evangelical Christian beliefs. And, although attorneys for the newspaper have offered to settle, she says she and Patterson feel it is important that this case go to court.

"The Indianapolis Star has filed a motion to seal all information regarding the gay lifestyles of Star managers involved in this suit," Coffey notes. "They're calling it a trade secret, and they're filing a motion to seal all that information to preclude us from even bringing this up as part of our testimony, which really is silly, because it's the whole basis of our suit -- that that's the reason why we were forced out of the department."

Most people fail to realize, the former Star employee contends, how the secular media is promoting the de-Christianization of America. "This whole issue is so much bigger than two people or a newspaper," she says. "It's really about media control. It's about the growing monopolization of the press by media giants who are systematically buying up television, radio, Internet, newspaper outlets."

Coffey says there is "just a shrinking handful of those media giants" that are basically in control of all the information that most of the public sees in the news today. She is hopeful that the lawsuit she and Patterson have brought against the Star will not only vindicate the two of them but also help bring this secularist monopolization of the media to light.

Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.

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