DILLON – Town leaders’ refusal to reconsider a longstanding practice of letting a Christian church use the Dillon Amphitheater for Sunday prayers has hurled the town into a national storm over worship in public facilities.

They now face potential lawsuits from pressure groups. Freedom from Religion Foundation attorneys are demanding an end to any preferential treatment for the Dillon Community Church. The rival First Liberty Institute sent a countervailing letter urging continued use, warning that recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions favor greater mixing of church and state.

Town staffers hit with multiplying requests from a diversity of religious groups to rent the amphitheater had proposed to shut down access by all outside groups and allow only town-sponsored events such as rock concerts. But town council members on June 11 rejected that approach and voted 5-1 to allow continued use by the church. Two members derided Dillon’s Denver-based contract attorney Kathleen Kelly for creating roadblocks after she raised constitutional concerns. Kelly resigned the next day.

The drama lit up chat sites — Friendly Athiest commenters decried “Christian privilege” — and led to a special meeting Wednesday night where town leaders faced a cacophony from residents. Then leaders accepted advice from a new attorney and back-tracked, temporarily prohibiting the use of the amphitheater by all groups until leaders set a legally defensible policy.

“There needs to be a separation of church and state. We cannot favor one denomination over another,” town manager Nathan Johnson said in an interview. “Now with the popularity of the venue we have more and more people reaching out. Everybody wants to be down there,” he said.

“If we are going to open up the amphitheater, we have to open it up for everybody.”

For more than 40 years, Dillon leaders have let the Dillon Community Church, a non-denominational Christian organization that owns a building a few blocks away, run evangelical “outreach” events appealing to Colorado high country visitors.

The amphitheater was built in 1993 as a low-key community band shell. Town officials have transformed it into one of the nation’s trendiest concert venues by investing $10 million, including a $1 million grant from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, for an overhaul completed in 2018. Seats on a grassy hillside look out on the blue waters of Lake Dillon, a Denver Water reservoir, and majestic snow-splotched mountain peaks. Town officials charge a $25,000 fee for promoters of town-sponsored concerts. The venue holds up to 3,656 people. Town-sponsored activities also include country line dancing and yoga.

But religious worship is now canceled.

Dillon Community Church officials had lauded town leaders’ initial stance. “We are grateful that the council voted down the new policy that would limit all non-profit organizations that are not city-sponsored,” their posting said.

Senior pastor Jim Howard said Friday he’s confident town council members will sort out future access. “If they say we can’t use it while they figure out the legalities, we’ll stay in our building. We definitely don’t want a lawsuit,” Howard said.

The church paid a $1,100 annual rental fee, town officials said, and Howard said his 220-member church draws 300 to 800 people to the Sunday worship events.

Church members have mobilized. “Dillon Community Church should be grandfathered into whatever contract. They’ve been here for over 40 years,” church representative Wendy Myers told leaders at the packed special meeting. “It attracts an incredible number of our visitors who come to the county every single summer and love coming to church.”

She and others advocated opening the amphitheater to all religious groups. Former council member Tim Westerberg supports that but also spoke out against new council members’ political tactics. “They don’t seem to care about what the community thinks. They don’t seem to care about what their attorney says. They don’t seem to care about what the Constitution says. It’s just damn the torpedoes full speed away, bulldoze ahead our agenda.”

Problems around prayers in the amphitheater arose earlier this year when other religious groups, including a Jewish synagogue, Native American tribes, and people of various faiths planning weddings asked to rent the facility, Johnson said. “Everybody is attracted to the lake, the natural beauty of the lake,” he said.

“It’s a dilemma because an expectation has been set” in allowing the Dillon Community Church events.

When other religious groups requested access, “we put them on hold,” he said. “That’s what started this conversation. We haven’t told anyone ‘no’ – at least that I’m aware of. We want to have clear and definitive direction from the town council on what is allowed and not allowed in this setting.”

If Dillon officials excluded any other religious group, members of that group could file a civil rights lawsuit, said Madeline Ziegler, staff attorney for the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, which has filed a legal petition seeking town communications with the Dillon Community Church and other groups to explore a possible lawsuit.

Dillon’s practice has sent “a signal to the town residents that their government prefers Christianity and that Christians will be treated better than other people in this town. That’s not a message that the people’s representatives should be allowed to send,” Ziegler said.

Dillon could avoid a lawsuit by setting a formal policy that includes “a welcoming and inclusive message that all are welcome and equally allowed to use the town’s facilities,” she said.  Otherwise, town leaders would be acting to ensure “the continued dominance of one church that has the backing of the town over all other religious organizations.”

Attorneys with the Texas-based First Liberty Institute, a conservative Christian legal organization devoted to”restoring religious liberty,” have prevailed in cases at the U.S. Supreme Court, where justices have decided that “history and tradition” must be considered in determining whether government is too intertwined with religion.

Senior attorney Lea Patterson, in her letter sent Tuesday, encouraged Dillon leaders “to continue to allow the church to rent the amphitheater” so as not to invite a lawsuit.

Finding space for religion in Colorado increasingly presents challenges. Soaring real estate prices mean church groups can be hard-pressed to afford buildings, said Jon Stavney, director of the Northwest Colorado Council of Governments, which supports local leaders. “Look at the cost of housing. If you are a church, it makes sense to use public space at a reduced cost,” Stavney said.

In the Eagle Valley west of Vail, the Redeemer church rents space for Sunday worship at the public Brush Creek Elementary School.

For elected leaders, deciding to end a longstanding public worship tradition such as the Dillon Community Church’s use of the town amphitheater can be politically perilous because leaders in small towns typically have to face down residents in grocery aisles, he said.

“If I were in their shoes, and this entity had been using a public space for a long time, I would have some loyalty to the history of that group using that facility.”

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This ballpark has had its share of crazy nights. Put this one near the top of the list.

Ryan McMahon’s based-loaded walk, which ended with a pitch-clock violation, completed a two-run rally in the bottom of the ninth to deliver the Colorado Rockies an 8-7 victory against the Washington Nationals in front of 34,509 at Coors Field.

It is the first walk-off win via the rule in MLB history. This is the second season with a pitch clock, and a ball is awarded when the pitcher does not throw in time. McMahon had a 3-2 count with the bases loaded, but Washington closer ended an ignominious outing with the Nationals’ final gaffe in a night full of them.

“Was that the first one? I hadn’t seen that before,” McMahon said. “Honestly, you hate to see a game end that way, but I’m happy it worked out in our favor.

“It’s only fitting that we get the first shot-clock violation to win a game.”

Finnegan leads the majors with nine pitch-clock violations this season. He’s also third in saves with 21, but did not record an out Saturday night against Colorado.

“Those situations, it just can’t happen. It can’t happen,” Finnegan said. “Just immediately felt awful about letting the team down in that big spot there. To lose the game in that way, it just can’t happen.”

Colorado trailed 7-5 entering the bottom of the eighth inning after the bullpen yielded two runs in both the seventh and eighth. McMahon homered in the eighth to give the Rockies a chance in the ninth.

They knocked around Finnegan with four straight singles to tie the game before McMahon worked the walk-off walk.

“That’s against a guy who’s having a really good year and has really good stuff,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “Just a lot of really good at-bats. We squared the ball up against a guy that’s been really good. (That was) quality.”

Cal Quantrill pitched six solid innings in the win. Brendan Rodgers had one of the team’s three home runs in his return from injury.

Quantrill continued to be Colorado’s most effective pitcher this season. He allowed three runs on seven hits and a walk in six innings. Quantrill finished with six straight outs after yielding a home run to CJ Abrams to lead off the fifth inning.

That is Quantrill’s 10th quality start of the season. He’s tied for the second-most in the National League, behind Philadelphia’s Zack Wheeler and San Francisco’s Logan Webb.

“He battled again,” Black said. “They seemed to have an idea about what to do with his split-finger (fastball), but he continued to make pitches. He’s a pitcher’s pitcher.”

Quantrill left with a 4-3 lead. His chances of collecting a seventh win were gone before the Rockies recorded another out in the seventh.

Jake Bird and Justin Lawrence combined to allow four runs in relief, the last two coming on Luis Garcia Jr.’s homer.

Rodgers celebrated his return from a strained hamstring with a three-run blast in the bottom of the third inning to give Colorado a 4-2 advantage. Mitchell Parker grooved a first-pitch fastball to Rodgers, and the Colorado second baseman sent it 436 feet into the second row of seats in center field section next to the pine trees for his fourth homer of the year.

Hunter Goodman greeted Washington relief pitcher Jacob Barnes with a 446-foot home run deep into the left-field seats to lead off the seventh inning and draw the Rockies back even at 5-5. Goodman has found a way to unlock his power at the MLB level this month.

Goodman now has five home runs in his past eight games after hitting three in his first 45 contests with the Rockies. He had 70 home runs in the minors over the past two seasons.

Before Finnegan’s violation, the Nationals also ran into four outs — three caught stealings by catcher Jacob Stallings — and gave away another on a weirdly-timed bunt.

The Nationals gave them an opening, and then the Rockies earned it. They won for just the time sixth time in 21 games this month.

“We’ve been punched in the mouth a couple times as a team, but we keep coming,” McMahon said. “And we’re just going to continue to do that.”

Bird, Bouchard injured. Colorado lost a pair of players during the game to injuries. Bird faced three batters before leaving with groin tightness. Sean Bouchard left with back soreness after trying to bend over and collect a ball in the right-center gap in the third inning.

Kitchen recalled. The Rockies recalled Austin Kitchen before the game Saturday. It’s his first time on a major-league roster. He won a College World Series at Coastal Carolina but was not drafted. He spent a year pitching for the Steel City Slammin’ Sammies in a four-team independent league in 2020 before signing with the Rockies in 2021. The Rockies designated relief pitcher Geoff Hartlieb (0-0, 9.00 ERA in nine innings) for assignment to make room for Kitchen.

Sunday’s pitching matchup
Nationals RHP Jake Irvin (5-6, 3.24 ERA) at Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (0-3, 13.21 ERA)

1:10 p.m. Sunday, Coors Field

TV: Rockies.TV (streaming); Comcast/Xfinity (channel 1262); DirecTV (683); Spectrum (130, 445, 305, 435 or 445, depending on region).

Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM

Freeland will make his first start for the Rockies since April 14, having missed more than two months with a left elbow strain. The 31-year-old Freeland made three rehab starts at Class AAA for Albuquerque, allowing three runs over 10 innings. Freeland was Colorado’s opening-day starter. He yielded 25 runs (23 earned) in his four starts before the injury, including 10 on opening night.

Irvin, 27, is in his second year in the Nationals’ rotation. He yielded four runs on eight hits and four walks against Arizona last time out, but before that reeled off a string of five straight strong starts — just five runs allowed total with 31 strikeouts across 31 2/3 innings. He has faced Colorado once in his brief MLB career, allowing four runs in six innings July 26, 2003.

Pitching probables

Monday: Off

Tuesday: Rockies TBD at Houston TBD, 6:10 p.m.

Wednesday: Rockies TBD at Houston TBD, 12:10 p.m.