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by Brooks Franklin
The Lebanon Democrat, January 22, 2003
His supporters say a church music minister charged with illegally possessing machine guns is not only a far cry from the man portrayed by authorities, but also a victim of infighting within his church’s leadership.
Three members of Green Hill Baptist Church spoke out in support of music minister Mark Lancaster, 40, of Mt. Juliet on Tuesday.
Lancaster was freed from federal custody under a $50,000 bond Friday, over a week after authorities seized 15 allegedly illegal machine guns from his home.
Though church officials have steadfastly refused to comment on Lancaster, his friends within the congregation described him as a “great guy” and a “loving man” interested primarily in “the work of the Lord.”
They also said Lancaster’s gun hobby was well known to his church congregation and may have been used as leverage to remove Lancaster from his leadership role amid a heated budget dispute.
“I would be willing to leave my kids with him right now and wouldn’t worry for a minute about them,” said Mt. Juliet’s Kevin Costley. “I wouldn’t say that if I thought he was any kind of danger whatsoever. It’s just not true.”
An Old Hickory man who is also part of Green Hill Church’s congregation, Blake Wylie, called Lancaster “a great friend.”
“I don’t think he has an evil bone in his body,” Wylie added. “Everything I know about him is positive. There really isn’t anything negative you could say about him.”
Rusty Roberts, a member of the church since 1982, described the music minister as “a great guy, a real loving man who wants to do the work of the Lord.”
Robers said Lancaster is in “high spirits” since his return home, buoyed by considerable support among his friends and fellow church-goers.
“He’s doing great,” Roberts said. “he’s got a lot of people who support him who have called on him to let him know they’re praying for him.”
At the time of his arrest agents of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms said they raided Lancaster’s home based on information from three informants, described in affidavits as people “associated” with the music minister through the church.
Agents said a telephone tip led to their investigation of Lancaster, with a caller describing him as an emotionally unstable “Nazi buff.” Agents said after his arrest, however, that they found no link to Lancaster or any hate groups.
His friends scoffed at the notion of Lancaster as a person with any interest of Nazis outside of his usual fascination with American history.
Two of them, in separate interviews, said Lancaster participated in a World War II reenactment over the summer in which he was asked to wear a German uniform.
Saying Lancaster is something of a “history buff,” Costley said. “That whole Nazi thing was just ridiculous. When 9-11 happened he led a special aptriotic ceremony that really moved a lot of people. He does special things for Veterans Day every year, that whole Nazi thing really blew my mind, that anyone would even say that.”
Wylie said he had participated in such a reenactment with Lancaster, like Costley describing the music minister as a “history buff.
“Someone is just taking his interest in history and just twisting that around,” Wylie said. “Basically he has a very strong interest in history especially World War II, and somebody, being very malicious, is making it sound like something it wasn’t.”
At the time of his arrest authorities said Lancaster did not have the proper license to possess machine guns, though Costley said his friend was “in the process” of obtaining such a license.
“I don’t know how far along in the process he was, but I do know he was in the process of getting a license,” Costley said.
Lancaster, according to authorities, held a license as a collector of curios but that did not entitle him to possess the machine guns. Some were described as World War II era models while some were said to have been manufactured in recent years.
“He had a hobby of collecting guns and like a lot of people, I’m sure, he never even though about getting into any kind of trouble for it,” Costley said.
All three men said they believe Lancaster enjoys strong support among members of the church’s congregation despite the charges pending against him.
“I think as far as the people go, everybody is pretty much in support of him,” Wylie said.
But both he and Roberts said they believe a church dispute may lie at the heart of Lancaster’s legal woes.
“I can only say there have been some recent issues dealing with the budget,” Wylie replied when asked if Lancaster had been at odds with anyone within the church in recent months.
Roberts was more blunt, saying flatly he believes someone within the church turned Lancaster over to authorties as a result of the budget dispute.
“This was done, underhanded, to get rid of Mark…I guarantee you it was,” said Roberts who estimated that “probably 90 percent of the members” knew about Lancaster’s gun collection.
Roberts said Lancaster “really didn’t want to say anything” about the church budget dispute but eventually did so because “he’s the one that will stand up and tell you what his beliefs are…He told it like it was.”
Both Roberts and Wylie indicated the dispute center over how much the church should budge its leaders for expenditures such as equipment.
Roberts said he believes the dispute and Lancaster’s subsequent arrest mean the music minister will never be allowed to return to the church in the same capacity.
“As for the congregation, most everybody wants him back, but the staff and church council are totally against him,” Roberts said.
Repeated attempts by The Lebanon Democrat to contact church officials for comment since the arrest have been unsuccessful. Telephone calls to church officials on Monday and Tuesday were not returned for this story.
Church leaders obtained a temporary restraining order barring Lancaster from church property shortly before his federal court hearing last week. The attorney who represented the church in obtaining the retreating order, Larry Crain, has been out of town and was unavailable for comment this week.
Roberts said he believes many members of the church’s congregation are both saddened and puzzled by their leadership’s continued silence over Lancaster.
“They (church leaders) have turned their back on their brother is what they’ve done,” he remarked.