A controversy has surfaced from Kitchener’s Christkindl Market after a group of performers say they were silenced for talking about Jesus.
Pastor Jacob Reaume had to shout his message at the opening night of the market after his microphone was turned off by city staff.
“I thought it was probably an accident, some type of technical difficulty but then I looked around and realized, no this is intentional,” Reaume says.
Hey continued to say the microphone was cut off three times: once during a German bible reading and twice when he was reading the story of Christmas.
The city of Kitchener says the church group did not indicate it was going to be reading from scripture or be providing a sermon during their performance.
“In its 22 year history, Christkindl Market has never had scripture or sermons as part of its scheduled programming and there is no venue for this within the four day event,” the city said in a statement.
The church claims they did the same performance last year, including the scripture reading.
The city says they were unaware that was part of the performance last year which is why they did not tell the group it was not permitted this year.
With reporting from Max Wark
