HOUSTON -- Houston pastors joined forces Tuesday in support of Harris County's plan to appeal a federal judge's decision that orders the removal of a Bible display located outside the civil courthouse in downtown Houston.

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Support Grows For Bible Display's Stay

Clergy and community leaders told Local 2 they support the county's decision to appeal U.S. District Judge Sim Lake's decision to remove the monument that sits 20 feet from the entrance of the Harris County Civil Courthouse at 301 Fannin.

"Religious leaders believe very strongly about this (issue). This is not something we are just going to sit by passively and hope things happen. We are standing behind our county officials as they appeal this -- all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court," Houston Area Pastor Council member Dave Welch said.

A group of demonstrators continued to swell Tuesday in protest of the judge's order to remove the open Bible that sits in a glass-topped case atop a 4-foot stone monument. The Star of Hope Mission erected the display in 1956 in honor of Houston philanthropist William Mosher.

Lake issued the removal order last week, ruling the monument violates the separation of church and state. The judge also ordered the county to pay $41,000 in court costs and attorney's fees in the lawsuit that contended the display of the Bible on county property was unconstitutional.

The display, Lake ruled, violates the First Amendment establishment clause that prohibits government from promoting or inhibiting religion.

"We believe that the judge's decision was badly flawed," Welch said.

Protesters staged a graphic display of a hanging Monday in front of the courthouse four days before the monument is to be removed. They told Local 2 they hope they are sending a strong message.

"They used to hang people out here in the courtyard when a judge would make a decision. This is a sad day when they are going to hang truth," Grace Baptist Church Rev. Aubry Vaughn said.

County Attorney Mike Stafford says even if a stay of Lake's order is not sought, the county would appeal his decision to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans and to the Supreme Court, if necessary.

Kay Staley, a real estate broker and attorney, sued the county last August after witnessing the controversy in Alabama surrounding a judge's refusal to remove a monument bearing the Ten Commandments from that state's judicial building.

Staley's lawyer, Randall Kallinen, said stays pending appeals typically are granted only if a losing side would suffer irreparable harm if a court order were enforced.

Stafford said the county would notify Star of Hope that it must remove the Bible unless a stay is granted. Mission officials said they would not defy the court order.