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Bear Man’s lawyer questions Fishtown’s tax-exempt status, escalating Youth for Christ battle in Leland

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Business owners, local parents, and the Fishtown Preservation Society oppose Apollos Properties’ and Youth for Christ’s contentious bid for a special land use permit to create a youth ministry in a building they own in the heart of Leland’s business district. Now Youth for Christ is striking back and elevating the legal stakes of this battle playing out in a small Leelanau County town but with potential implications far beyond Northern Michigan. On March 10, Timothy White, an attorney with the Parker Harvey law firm, sent a letter on behalf of their client, Apollos owner Jim VanSteenhouse, to the Leland Township assessor and board of review. That letter questioned the charitable tax-exempt status of the Fishtown Preservation Society in the town’s historic district of fish shanties. The district includes VanSteenhouse’s property at at 110 North Lake St. where Youth for Christ wants a ministry.

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Leland navigates a lighthouse and a rocky shoal

A debate over the role of religion in public schools and in the public square has roiled tiny Leland, Michigan, this fall—the conversation a microcosm of an explosive reckoning on the national stage. Leelanau Lighthouse missionaries Micah and Kya Cramer have used their savvy Instagram marketing—and until recently, their regular presence inside Leland school—to attract dozens of local high school students to Sunday evening worships and other faith events. Concerned parents have raised concerns that the group was using lunch hour at school to “pursue” minors. This local conflict has generated whiplash for some. Five years ago, a community letter that addressed race relations during Black Lives Matter protests prompted neighbors to retreat and reinforce their political and cultural walls.

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