These are two of the letters appearing in the Hastings Observer over the last two weeks yet giving out false claims and attackings us as Pastors:

All very hard to believe
IF Pastor Greg and Catherine Khan have been receiving threats and have been subject to faith hate campaigns then I am sorry to hear it and I most certainly would not condone such behaviour. I do however have great difficulty in believing that any of this is true.
I attended the council meeting in January 2007 and, yes, artists who were present did react angrily (and justifiably) when the lease of St Mary in the Castle was undemocratically handed over to Sonrise Church by a narrow minded Tory Council.
I do not however, recall artists personally threatening them nor attacking their faith. How would Sonrise Church have liked it if they had been unfairly evicted from their premises?
Was it not bad enough that the artists (who play a pivotal role in representing Hastings and keeping it on the map) lost their venue unfairly? Let alone Sonrise Church accuse artists of threatening them and their children. Such allegations are spiteful and wicked in the extreme. Talk of 'kicking someone when they are already down'.
Artists may hold points of view and - even practise another faith which does not tally with Sonrise Church's narrow minded and extreme religious views. Is that what they see as threatening? If the answer to that question is yes, then I am very sorry, Mr and Mrs Khan, but art is about challenging and questioning and sometimes it hurts.
As a member of the artists' community I do not attack people's religious faiths and I'm sure that I speak for the other Hastings artists. I would defend people's rights to attend their places of worship and practice their faith.
I must point out that there are devout Christians among the Hastings artists. I would also add that members of my family and friends are practising Christians and yet not a single one of them has mentioned having received threats and being subject to faith hate campaigns.
If Sonrise Church do not like the contents of my letter then please, by all means, feel welcome to come and stone me but before you do, go back to your bibles first, because you might find that there a couple of things that you have missed out and they are "Judge not lest ye be judged" Matthew 7:1-5 and "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone"
I rest my case.
NICK ROWLAND
Tillington Terrace, Hastings

Manipulative behaviour
MAY I make a few points about your reports on Sonrise Church's decision to quit St Mary in the Castle?
1. You ask us to vote for or against condemning "the harassment experienced by Sonrise Church", as if this was a proven fact. Not "alleged death threats", nor "death threats" in quotation marks. Yet no-one has been charged, brought to court or found guilty. This sort of crying foul and finger-pointing by Sonrise is classic manipulative behaviour, which any parent would recognise and any serious journalist should question.
2. I was one of the founders of both SoCo and the Arts Forum. Speaking as a self-confessed "arts activist", I never heard talk of any threats. Yes, people were angered by the Council's procedures which many saw as covert, unfair, undemocratic and irresponsible, but they blamed the one-party cabinet and the council officers who were driving this controversial decision.
3. The divisive "Christians versus artists" presentation ignores two things. Sonrise would be disowned by many Christians, while the arts community includes many passionate Christians. Many across the spectrum were anxious about the influence on vulnerable people of untrained, unsupervised and self-appointed "pastors", and feared Sonrise's tenure of SMIC would magnify its credibility. In the event, they had clearly bitten off more than they could chew.
4. The real issue now is the town's need for a high quality flagship arts centre. Arts and culture are not a minority middle class pursuit but a life-enhancing essential found throughout the world, in rich and poor communities. From early childhood we all draw and paint, sing and dance, make up stories and act out dramas. Arts are also an effective antidote to mindless violence and criminality.
5. For Hastings, the arts are a powerful earner of income and prestige. Supposedly elitist artists make a major contribution to popular mass events such as the Carnival, Old Town Week and the Bonfire. St. Mary in the Castle, though not the easiest building, could be again a fully-functioning, financially solvent multi-arts venue for everyone to enjoy and be proud of.
6. The Observer often celebrates the achievements of our talented youngsters. Wouldn't it be more consistent if you also supported the establishment of an arts centre that can inspire and support them? So I hope the Observer will now play fair and support the sort of open bidding process for St. Mary's future use that we should have had two years ago.
RACHEL LEVER (Member of SoCo and Arts Forum)
Boscobel Road North, St. Leonards