The worship space wars in New York City have ended with a victory for the Bronx Household of Faith that meets at Public School 15. According to the New York Times, the city has long opposed using school buildings for worship, viewing it as a violation of the separation of church and state. In fact, the same judge who ruled against the church meeting at a public school in 1996, Judge Loretta A. Preska of Federal District Court in Manhattan, reversed her ruling this week in accordance with a 2001 decision by the Supreme Court, which found that religious teachings on school premises were no different from other secular lessons about "morals and character development."

The city attorney plans to appeal this ruling. But to the rest of the country, Middle American, anyway, and to evangelical Christians in particular, many of whom meet for church every week at public schools or movie theaters, the 10 year battle for a small church in the Bronx appears ludicrous.

Jordan Lorence, the congregation’s attorney, and senior counsel for The Alliance Defense Fund, told WorldNetDaily, ""It's a simple, common sense principle that took over a decade and multiple court rulings for the New York City school board to understand," he said.

"Almost everyone in America but the public school system of New York City understands that the government doesn't endorse everything it allows," Lorence also said.

The implications of the big victory for the small church may ripple across to the West Coast where Rev. Ken Hutcherson has been battling for ground in a public school where Antioch Bible Church now meets. Most recently he has been targeted by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network. Members of that group testified before the school board last month that having the church in the building of Lake Washington High School interfered with the school mission, according to GayWired.com.

But even in Middle America, the debate pitting church and state in the public schools, has reverberated. One irate parent in Thedford, Neb., wants a school superintendent there sacked because a church group is encouraging students to join their congregation. According to The North Platte Telegraph, an abstinence and drug-free program got way out of control for young cornhuskers when they were given a free "Book of Hope" at school and encouraged to come to church.

Forget about the peer pressure to drink, do drugs, smoke or have sex, the peer pressure to worship God was way out of control. The board won’t fire the superintendent, seems he was on his way out anyway, with retirement plans at the end of the year.