Oklahoma church in Idaho election ad

BOISE – A political ad on the radio statewide that claims the “Centennial Baptist Church” may be bulldozed for a shopping center – but doesn’t explain that the church involved in the eminent domain dispute is in Oklahoma – has upset parishioners at the Centennial Baptist Church in Caldwell, Idaho.

“I think it’s kinda deceptive there to put our name in it,” said church treasurer Ben Mannen. “It’s not too good.”

Laird Maxwell, sponsor of Proposition 2 on the Nov. 7 ballot, said he talked with the church’s pastor and has since made a point in public statements of noting that the church his ad refers to is in Sand Springs, Okla. “It was just a misunderstanding,” Maxwell said. “I now know for certain that there is a Centennial Baptist Church in Caldwell, Idaho.”

Maxwell said he put in an order to add an Oklahoma mention when the ad runs in the Treasure Valley, but not all stations made the change. Mannen said he heard the ad again Wednesday and it was unchanged.

– Betsy Z. Russell