Lakepointe Church in Rockwall, Texas, has been accused of attempting to manipulate a traffic study in order to justify a new stoplight near its campus following the leak of an email from the church to life group leaders.
The email was sent on Friday (May 10) by an unnamed staff member of the multisite megachurch. In it, group leaders were encouraged to take “shifts” driving the road where the traffic study would be conducted over a five-day period.
“In an effort to ease traffic, better serve our city and provide a better experience for those who attend Lakepointe Church: WE NEED YOUR HELP to get a traffic light at the Ralph Hall entrance,” the email said. “Each shift is a commitment to drive the prescribed route 10 times within that hour shift.”
The email added, “It’s great if you make more than 10 laps within the hour, but laps are only counted toward that specific shift.”
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Included in the email was a link to a sign-up form for leaders to claim a shift.
While Lakepointe Church commissioned the traffic study, it was at the behest of the city as part of Lakepointe’s request for permission to install a stoplight near the entrance of its parking lot.
Controversy began to stir when the email was leaked to a local Facebook page. According to Religion News Service (RNS), the first two people to sign up for “shifts” were pastors at Lakepointe.
In a statement to ChurchLedaers, Lakepointe said that the email and sign-up form were the result of an “unfortunate decision” made by a staff member.
“In an effort to increase the safety of our people, our traffic officers and to improve the egress of traffic, we made application to the city for a traffic signal at our main south entrance on W Ralph Hall Parkway,” said Tim Smith, senior executive pastor. “From our initial application with the city, it has been Lakepointe’s commitment to pay for the total cost of the signal being installed. There was no expectation that any tax dollars would be utilized if the city approved the request for a light.”
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“Part of the due diligence and process of that light being installed was the commission of a traffic study at our entrance with a ratio of cars needed to fulfill its requirements,” Smith continued. “On Friday afternoon, a staff member made the unfortunate decision to attempt to sign up people from within Lakepointe to positively impact the count.”