TWO TINY CHURCHES ON HIGHWAY IN SOUTH DAKOTA STIR FIGHT OVER CHURCH-STATE RELATION
WHITE LAKE, S.D. – Interstate highway 90 stretches across the flat, bleak prairie just south of this bleak little town. There is little to break the gusting wind and nothing of interest to slow the whizzing cars. It’s not a likely scene for an emotional quarrel over the time-honored principle of separation of church and state, but that’s what is happening on Interstate 90.
The controversy centers on two tiny chapels that stand in rest areas for motorists on each side of the superhighway.
The chapels were erected five years ago with state approval by the Christian Reformed Church in Corsica, S.D. Two years ago, the Federal Government, which provided 90% of the money to build the highway, charged that the chapels are illegal because they are on land purchased with Federal tax funds. It ordered them removed and implied that if they weren’t Federal funds for further highway construction in South Dakota might be shut off. The state refused to move the chapels, and the matter has been the subject of a running feud ever since.
The chapels are unassuming, one-room, white frame structures with stained-glass windows. They have spires with crosses on top. Each chapel can hold only six or seven people. Inside, there is an open bible (turned to the Book of Psalms), some religious literature and a guest registry, but no pews. The words “Wayside Chapel” are painted above the door; there are no other signs.
Weddings and a Fur Coat
The chapels were conceived by the Corsica church as places where motorists could stop to meditate, “So often travelers—especially those on the interstate—have nowhere to go for a moment’s peace and quiet,” explains Mrs. John Kuyper of Stickney, S.D., a church member.
There’s no way of telling exactly how many people stop, but more than 40,000 sign the guest registries each year. “They come from every state, and last July alone we had visitors from Germany, England, Austria, France and Uruguay,” Mrs. Kuyper says.
At least a half-dozen weddings have been performed in the chapels, and last year “a very expensive fur cont that had been stolen in Rapid City was found in one of the chapels,” Mrs. Kuyper recalls. “I guess the person who took it got a guilty conscience and thought if he left it there, it would get back to the owner.”
Strong protests against the Federal Government’s bid to remove the chapels have come from South Dakota’s Congressional delegation. Sen. Karl Mundt has painted out that chapels are maintained on military posts. “I find it difficult to believe that it was the intention of the founding fathers that religion should not be an integral part of our national life,” he has said.
Frank Farrar South Dakota governor until about two weeks ago, pledged that the state would go to court to save the chapels. The present administration of Gov. Richard Kneip, which took office Jan. 5, hasn’t yet taken a public stand on the matter, but observers say its views probably won’t differ much from those of Morris G. Hallock, state highway director till two weeks ago.
“We Were Fools to Talk About It”
Says Mr. Hallock: “I think Washington is making a mountain out of a molehill. It’s worried about setting a precedent that will lead to people putting up chapels wholesale on the interstate system. That’s just not going to happen. This country has enough trouble simply getting people to attend churches, let alone build them.”
The issue has generated thousands of letters to newspapers and to South Dakota and Federal highway officials. They come from residents of South Dakota as well as other states, and the majority favors leaving the chapels where they are. A reader of an Aberdeen, S.D., newspaper writes: “In Europe religious shrines are common along the roads to comfort the weary traveler. It is only in America and Russia, it appears, that such shrines aren’t allowed.”
A Hudson, S.D., woman writes to the Federal Highway Administration: “Why don’t you stick to building roads? … You waste the taxpayers’ money enough ways now without finding ways to destroy chapels.”
Federal highway officials are understandably touchy about the issue, “This is one we can’t win, no matter what the outcome,” says one official. “We were fools to even talk about it in the first place.” Not entirely facetiously, he suggests turning the chapels over to a combine of all religious denominations. “Maybe they’d end up fighting among themselves over what to do with them, and the buildings would eventually disintegrate.”
Nobody knows what the next step will be. As for the Christian Reformed Church, it’s giving no consideration to closing the chapels. “We think we’re doing more good than bad,” says Mrs. Kuyper.
Reprinted by permission from THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (January 18, 1971.)
by Richard James, staff reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
WHITE LAKE, S.D. – Interstate highway 90 stretches across the flat, bleak prairie just south of this bleak little town. There is little to break the gusting wind and nothing of interest to slow the whizzing cars. It’s not a likely scene for an emotional quarrel over the time-honored principle of separation of church and state, but that’s what is happening on Interstate 90.
The controversy centers on two tiny chapels that stand in rest areas for motorists on each side of the superhighway.
The chapels were erected five years ago with state approval by the Christian Reformed Church in Corsica, S.D. Two years ago, the Federal Government, which provided 90% of the money to build the highway, charged that the chapels are illegal because they are on land purchased with Federal tax funds. It ordered them removed and implied that if they weren’t Federal funds for further highway construction in South Dakota might be shut off. The state refused to move the chapels, and the matter has been the subject of a running feud ever since.
The chapels are unassuming, one-room, white frame structures with stained-glass windows. They have spires with crosses on top. Each chapel can hold only six or seven people. Inside, there is an open bible (turned to the Book of Psalms), some religious literature and a guest registry, but no pews. The words “Wayside Chapel” are painted above the door; there are no other signs.
Weddings and a Fur Coat
The chapels were conceived by the Corsica church as places where motorists could stop to meditate, “So often travelers—especially those on the interstate—have nowhere to go for a moment’s peace and quiet,” explains Mrs. John Kuyper of Stickney, S.D., a church member.
There’s no way of telling exactly how many people stop, but more than 40,000 sign the guest registries each year. “They come from every state, and last July alone we had visitors from Germany, England, Austria, France and Uruguay,” Mrs. Kuyper says.
At least a half-dozen weddings have been performed in the chapels, and last year “a very expensive fur cont that had been stolen in Rapid City was found in one of the chapels,” Mrs. Kuyper recalls. “I guess the person who took it got a guilty conscience and thought if he left it there, it would get back to the owner.”
Strong protests against the Federal Government’s bid to remove the chapels have come from South Dakota’s Congressional delegation. Sen. Karl Mundt has painted out that chapels are maintained on military posts. “I find it difficult to believe that it was the intention of the founding fathers that religion should not be an integral part of our national life,” he has said.
Frank Farrar South Dakota governor until about two weeks ago, pledged that the state would go to court to save the chapels. The present administration of Gov. Richard Kneip, which took office Jan. 5, hasn’t yet taken a public stand on the matter, but observers say its views probably won’t differ much from those of Morris G. Hallock, state highway director till two weeks ago.
“We Were Fools to Talk About It”
Says Mr. Hallock: “I think Washington is making a mountain out of a molehill. It’s worried about setting a precedent that will lead to people putting up chapels wholesale on the interstate system. That’s just not going to happen. This country has enough trouble simply getting people to attend churches, let alone build them.”
The issue has generated thousands of letters to newspapers and to South Dakota and Federal highway officials. They come from residents of South Dakota as well as other states, and the majority favors leaving the chapels where they are. A reader of an Aberdeen, S.D., newspaper writes: “In Europe religious shrines are common along the roads to comfort the weary traveler. It is only in America and Russia, it appears, that such shrines aren’t allowed.”
A Hudson, S.D., woman writes to the Federal Highway Administration: “Why don’t you stick to building roads? … You waste the taxpayers’ money enough ways now without finding ways to destroy chapels.”
Federal highway officials are understandably touchy about the issue, “This is one we can’t win, no matter what the outcome,” says one official. “We were fools to even talk about it in the first place.” Not entirely facetiously, he suggests turning the chapels over to a combine of all religious denominations. “Maybe they’d end up fighting among themselves over what to do with them, and the buildings would eventually disintegrate.”
Nobody knows what the next step will be. As for the Christian Reformed Church, it’s giving no consideration to closing the chapels. “We think we’re doing more good than bad,” says Mrs. Kuyper.
Reprinted by permission from THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (January 18, 1971.)
by Richard James, staff reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL