What Hath Mel Wrought?


Actors Whip Easter Bunny at Church Show

The Associated Press
Thursday, April 8, 2004; 11:07 AM

GLASSPORT, Pa. - A church trying to teach about the crucifixion of
Jesus performed an Easter show with actors whipping the Easter bunny
and breaking eggs, upsetting several parents and young children.

People who attended Saturday's performance at Glassport's memorial
stadium quoted performers as saying, "There is no Easter bunny," and
described the show as being a demonstration of how Jesus was crucified.

Melissa Salzmann, who brought her 4-year-old son J.T., said the program
was inappropriate for young children. "He was crying and asking me why
the bunny was being whipped," Salzmann said.

Patty Bickerton, the youth minister at Glassport Assembly of God, said
the performance wasn't meant to be offensive. Bickerton portrayed the
Easter rabbit and said she tried to act with a tone of irreverence.

"The program was for all ages, not just the kids. We wanted to convey
that Easter is not just about the Easter bunny, it is about Jesus
Christ," Bickerton said.

Performers broke eggs meant for an Easter egg hunt and also portrayed a
drunken man and a self-mutilating woman, said Jennifer Norelli-Burke,
another parent who saw the show in Glassport, a community about 10
miles southeast of Pittsburgh.

"It was very disturbing," Norelli-Burke said. "I could not believe what
I saw. It wasn't anything I was expecting."

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