Evangelist, parent reach accord on Marion school assemblies

MARION, Ill. -- In a flap over the constitutional separation of church and state in Southern Illinois, a tentative agreement was reached Saturday in the dispute over a Texas preacher's plans to give secular school assemblies in Marion.

Robert Marsh, a parent who challenged the assemblies in court, declined to specify the agreement's details.

Neither school district officials nor Hill immediately returned telephone calls Saturday seeking comment.

The Rev. Ronnie Hill planned anti-drug assemblies for Monday and Tuesday. The Fort Worth, Texas-based evangelist also is in town for a nightly church revival at Cornerstone Community Church.

Marsh, the father of a fourth-grader, asked the U.S. District Court in Benton on Friday to issue a temporary restraining order canceling the four assemblies in grades five through 12 because he claims they improperly put God in the classroom.

Both sides are planning to appear Monday morning before U.S. District Judge James Foreman to sign the agreement, which will have the same effect as a court order, Marsh said.

Marsh has claimed the assemblies are part of a plan to get students to attend the nightly prayer crusade at the church.