A Battle for Souls in Battle Ground, WA

What happens when one religion becomes a town's landlord, employer, and government all at once? Residents of Battle Ground, Washington – a fast-growing community of roughly 23,000 just north of Portland, Oregon – are finding out in real time. Is this the future for small towns across America?

What Is Happening in Battle Ground?

An investigation by Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) revealed that more than 30 Battle Ground properties have been purchased over the last six years by corporate entities controlled by Camden Spiller, CEO of Maddox Industrial Transformer. Maddox, which manufactures electrical transformers, is one of the town’s largest employers, and one of the fastest growing companies in the country.

Spurred by their success, OPB found that the Spillers have been on a spending spree: the town’s bar has been shuttered, a former convenience store is now a bakery (which prints Bible verses on its order buzzers), a cigar shop named for the preacher Charles Spurgeon has opened its doors, and construction is now underway on a convention center, as well as a 16,000-square-foot stone chapel for the First Presbyterian Church.

First Presbyterian belongs to the "Presbyterian Church in America (PCA)", an evangelical denomination distinct from the larger, more progressive "Presbyterian Church (USA)" that you are likely familiar with. The PCA holds to traditional Reformed theology – it ordains only men as pastors and takes socially conservative positions on sexuality, divorce, and abortion.

The Spiller family influence reaches city hall as well: the mayor works at Maddox, the deputy mayor is married to a Maddox employee, and another Maddox employee sits on the school board. The town’s new leaders, OPB reports, don’t seem at all reluctant to incorporate their religious beliefs into their decision making. In recent months, they have approved a National Day of Prayer and are considering (over one councilmember's objection that the body was withholding the legal advice it had received on the matter) incorporating a prayer before city council meetings.

On the other hand, the council voted to remove a proposed Pride Month proclamation in 2024, and similarly declined issuing both Pride and Transgender Day of Visibility proclamations this year.

Many of the controversial proclamations issued by the new council, which also include statements in support of ICE and decrying “Antifa-associated violence”, have been met by protest from community members.

Battle Ground's local paper, The Reflector had covered the proclamations and the backlash extensively. On June 10, the Spillers announced that they had also purchased The Reflector, saying it would go on hiatus as they undertook a six-month review of its future.

The mayor plans to issue another proclamation next week, in “recognition and celebration of Battle Ground’s traditional nuclear families”.

A Blessing for the City?

The family behind these investments describe their motives as stewardship. In a letter published in The Reflector prior to his purchase, Spiller rooted his family's spending in the prophet Jeremiah's command to “seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you" for believers and nonbelievers alike.

And the investments are real: OPB notes the city manager has praised the Spillers' renovations across the community. They also sponsor the town's fireworks celebration, and Maddox, projected to surpass $1 billion in revenue by next year, employs 125 local people. While protests have been staged at city council meetings over some of the apparently Maddox-led new initiatives, several locals have also spoken out in support of the Spiller family and have argued that incorporation of Christianity into their various businesses is not a violation of any law.

Who Gets to Belong?

Spiller's new chapel will house Pastor C.R. Wiley's congregation, and that has some residents concerned. Wiley has professional ties to Doug Wilson, a controversial pastor based in Moscow, Idaho who has expressed his open desire that town, county, state, and even national governments should be controlled by Christians and run according to Christian values. Pastor Wiley, for his own part, has himself been quoted in favor of increasing the influence that Christianity has outside of the church, and has spoken about the critical importance of “governing unbelievers.”

Notably, some of the sharpest cautions have come from fellow Christians. A Mormon Battle Ground councilmember expressed their feelings to OPB that scripture specifically warns against seeking power itself, and that faith should not pursue dominance.

One resident, perhaps hoping to heal the rift, drafted a unity proclamation mentioning sexual orientations and gender identities. The mayor returned it with those phrases removed.

That edit lands hard on neighbors already watching Pride recognitions disappear while prayer advances. As resident Simon Graves told the council, "Your opinions should not determine my level of inclusion, recognition, or rights."

Another Christian resident who has worked to unwind the web of property records said she fears that the Spillers' version of the faith seems to treat its way as the only way. She hopes she is wrong.

A Question Older Than America

Battle Ground is one chapter in a long argument about faith and public power. Federal workers recently sued over what they called religious coercion in government emails, and faith leaders have debated whether devotion to political strength has crossed into idolatry. The question of who truly belongs in American public life has been asked of Muslims, Catholics, Jews, and atheists alike.

Can a community be revitalized by one faith without being closed to others? Where is the line between religious investment and religious control?