Pastor Bill Dunfee and one of his congregants, Calvin Zastroe, were arrested last week for trespassing on a strip club's property.
New Beginnings Ministries has been embroiled in a nearly decade-long feud with the Foxhole North strip club in New Castle, Ohio. The conflict has now resulted in two arrests.
Pastor Dunfee was standing in the Foxhole's parking lot, reading a Bible under a security light, when he was confronted by the strip club's owner, Thomas George, Raw Story reports. George admitted to pushing Dunfee three times while Zastroe stood nearby.
Dunfee and Zastroe refused to leave the property, and were arrested by sheriff's deputies for trespassing. Assault charges have also been filed against Mr George.
Citizens who live near the strip club said that New Beginnings church members are noisy, block the road, photograph vehicles, and trespass on their property. Dunfee acknowledged conflicts with three neighbourhood residents, but said that his church's mission to shut down the Foxhole would not be abandoned.
"We will not be discouraged, we will not be deterred, we will not give up on what is right," Pastor Dunfee said. "We will continue to let our light shine and hold up Jesus."
Last month, a group of about 30 strippers and supporters of the Foxhole North protested outside of the Warsaw church in response to nearly a decade of protests by the church's members.
Some held signs promoting tolerance and freedom of expression, while others marched or sat across from the church in lawn chairs, The Blaze reported.
"I have to point out the hypocrisy that I see," George told WBNS-10TV. "They come up every weekend, and they're very abusive and certainly unchristian-like... Calling the girls [expletives]... They're abusive to the customers.
"They sit out with video cameras, they take pictures of license plates, tell them they're posting them to the web."
Church members hung up several tarps to shield congregants from the wanton nudity.
