Leonard Hayhurst

Community Content Coordinator

WARSAW — A topless demonstration Sunday in Warsaw was conducted with little incident, though heated words were exchanged between parties and the incident could escalate next week.

At one point, six bare-breasted women walked in the right of way from the corner of Church and Railroad streets to the edge of New Beginnings Ministries' parking lot. Per Ohio Revised Code, it is legal for men and women to be topless in public.

About 30 dancers, other staff, family and friends from the Foxhole North either marched with protest signs or sat in chairs across from the church. Church members have been protesting the private gentlemen's club for nearly nine years. Two women were topless for about half of the four-hour protest.

After worship services ended, nine women exited the church and an argument ensued between them and the protestors. A couple of the church members also walked up and down the street with their own signs, declaring outrage at what they deemed was public indecency.

Pastor Bill Dunfee would not elaborate but said he is planning to directly confront the situation next Sunday starting with 9:30 a.m. Sunday school. Thomas George, who owns the Foxhole clubs in Warsaw and Zanesville, said his supporters plan to be at the church, with some of the women going topless, for the foreseeable future.

"Next Sunday, those who hate me will hate me even more," Dunfee said.

Although George does not have any pending legal actions, he said the demonstration was part of gathering material for a selective enforcement lawsuit he might file.

George intends to show how local authorities deal with New Beginnings churchgoers outside his business is not the same as how his people are dealt with when in front of the church.

Two previous injunctions to keep protestors at least 100 feet away from the strip club about 9 miles up the road from New Beginnings on US 36 were denied.

"We want to let (church members) know how it feels to be under scrutiny," George said. "They come up every weekend. They're very abusive and certainly not Christian-like, not what I read in my Bible. I have to point out the hypocrisy I see and not stand by and let this go on week in and week out."

George said he was concerned about children being exposed to the nudity. He also apologized to the residents and other churches in Warsaw not affiliated with New Beginnings for being exposed to what he knew was an extreme, but necessary, measure.

Tarps were hung around the back of the church, which was used by most parishioners, including children, to enter and exit. The church also paid to have an off-duty Coshocton County Sheriff's Office deputy on the property to monitor the situation.

About 125 people attended the morning worship services.

Deputy Ernie Snyder stood post for more than four hours but did not have to engage any of the church members or protestors. Dunfee said the church would most likely hire a deputy again next week.

The Owners Coalition Executive Director Greg Flaig also was on-hand to serve as liaison between the feuding factions and make sure everything was peaceable and by the law. The Owners Coalition is a group of 70 show clubs and adult cabarets in Ohio. Flaig said he would most likely return next week.

The topless women were not a major spectacle, as only a few people turned out to watch for a few minutes and some motorists honked their horns.

Anny Donewald, founder of Eve's Angels, traveled from Grand Rapids, Michigan, for the protest. Her ministry focuses on strippers, and Donewald came to Warsaw four years ago when the confrontation started getting heated. Donewald led the protestors in a group prayer Sunday.

Donewald and George said they felt the actions of New Beginnings gave other Christian churches a black eye and a bad name. Donewald said that, when she was last in Warsaw, she sat down with Dunfee and tried to make him realize his tactics were not the proper way to reach the dancers and patrons of the Foxhole.

"The Bible says, if you're with someone and they don't receive your message, brush your feet off and keep it moving," she said. "(The church) definitely needs to go away, because they're causing so much of a problem and there's no humility in that."

Although George has stated he simply wants Dunfee and his followers to stop coming to his business, Dunfee said they will not stop their protests until the Foxhole is out of business.

Dunfee said his church opposes sexually oriented clubs everywhere and is simply fighting the one in their backyard. He encourages other churches to tackle such clubs in their areas and called Sunday's topless demonstration "shameful."

"My question is how did we get to this point in America," he said. "The answer to that question is that we have abandoned the laws and words of God that make for better people."

llhayhur@coshoctontribune.com

740-295-3417

Twitter: @llhayhurst