Two couples who run a youth-based ministry in northern Lower Michigan are suing their local township and its leaders, alleging that they unconstitutionally banned their group from meeting.
In a 169-page complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids, the plaintiffs said officials in Leland Township in Leelanau County denied their Youth for Christ group a special use permit to allow high school students to meet, pray and study the Bible, instead bowing to a "small, but very vocal and determined, group of activists opposed Youth for Christ’s ministry in Leelanau County".
The complaint was filed by James and Elizabeth VanSteenhouse, who established a local branch of the Youth for Christ organization, and Micah and Kya Cramer, who served as its campus life directors.
"The activists opposing Youth for Christ Club and opposing Micah and Kya Cramer’s ministry to Leelanau County youth object to the religious speech and beliefs of those individuals participating in Youth for Christ Club activities," the complaint alleges. "The organized opposition to Youth for Christ is anti-Christian bigotry."
Officials at Leland Township's administrative offices didn't immediately return a message seeking comment. Officials have said the permit was denied because the proposed Youth for Christ facility did not satisfy several zoning standards after officials determined it was a religious assembly rather than the type of “club” permitted in the township's C-1 commercial district, the Leelanau Enterprise reported.
Permit denied
Youth for Christ is a non-denominational Christian youth ministry with more than 130 chapters across the U.S., according to the organization's website.
According to the lawsuit, the VanSteenhouses established a chapter in northern Michigan and in 2025 purchased a small building on North Lake Street, near the Lake Michigan shoreline, specifically to use it as a group meeting spot, court records show.
That October, township officials informed the group that it could not meet at the North Lake Street address without first obtaining a special-use permit authorized by the township, according to the complaint.
The building is situated in an area zoned C-1, which permits retail shops and other commercial services by right. Meanwhile, clubs require a special-use permit to operate in C-1 zones while religious institutions such as churches are not authorized to operate there.
After months of deliberation, the commission voted 4-1 on April 15 to deny the special-use permit, concluding the proposed use did not qualify as a permitted C-1 club.
Allegations of anti-Christian bigotry
The plaintiffs say they were the victims of a coordinated, anti-Christian campaign that included allegations of grooming against the local Youth for Christ campus life directors.
Opponents organized a sustained campaign urging township officials to reject the permit, with residents submitting letters and speaking at public meetings. According to the plaintiffs, activists demanded that Leland Public School exclude Youth for Christ and its directors from participating in volunteer activities at the schools.
The complaint also alleges that Larry Acker, a Traverse City attorney, led parents in Leelanau County to believe that the Cramers were grooming and stalking high school students.
The complaint includes several comments made on a Glen Arbor Sun webpage regarding the controversy. There, opponents criticized Youth for Christ’s presence around public schools, alleging it pressures, manipulates or “grooms” students through evangelical teachings, activities and incentives. Some characterized the organization as a cult, while others opposed its perceived Christian-nationalist ideology and called for alternative secular or non-Christian programming for local youth.
Others have vocally supported the group. Speakers during a Jan. 7 Leland Township Planning Commission meeting described Youth for Christ as a voluntary mentoring club providing local youth with a safe, positive community. They defended the Cramers’ character, emphasized the ministry’s benefits to students and families, and argued that denying the permit would infringe religious freedom and unfairly target Christianity.
"… I can't help but feel like it's persecution of the faith, and I feel like Christians have done a really good job in our area in being tolerant of culture that we don't agree with, because we support freedom," said Erika Humphrey, a local mother, during the meeting, according to the complaint.
Club vs. church
At the heart of the lawsuit is not only whether Youth for Christ’s Leland chapter legally qualifies as a “club” eligible for a special-use permit, but also whether the township's zoning may treat the proposed religious use differently from comparable secular clubs.
The complaint alleges Leland Township’s zoning is unconstitutional because it singles out religious institutions for restrictions, requiring special permits and limiting where they may assemble, while comparable secular groups face fewer restrictions.
The suit names 21 township officials as defendants.
According to the complaint, the township's own attorney advised the Planning Commission that the township should permit the group to meet at the North Lake Street property and that the group's assembly there was in accord with local zoning laws.
The permit denial violates the First, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, as well as the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution and numerous federal civil rights laws, the plaintiffs contend.
They are asking the court to declare the township's zoning ordinance regarding churches and religious institutions unconstitutional and to issue an injunction allowing the Youth for Christ group to meet at the North Lake Street property.
They also say the township should be ordered to pay for the plaintiffs' attorney fees and court costs and to amend its zoning ordinance and master plan to be more accommodating to religious organizations.