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Published on: 12/16/2004
Last Visited: 12/16/2004
"We wanted to do something very positive for this city -- to try to achieve racial healing," Ashley Beagle, 37, pastor of Decoursey Baptist, told "The Cincinnati Enquirer."
The church applied to the city for a permit for its cross in August, hoping to counter the Klan's past actions and any future plans, Beagle said.When they got the permit a month later, church members bought lumber and started work.
In April, an appeals court declared that a 2002 city ordinance barring private displays on the square was unconstitutional.Since the Klan began erecting crosses, Cincinnati had tried to pass various bans and limits on square displays, efforts that were repeatedly blocked in court."Continue to pray for our church that this cross might bring healing to the racial problem and possibly bring some new people to our church," Beagle said on Decoursey Baptist's Web site.