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Tuesday, November 22, 2005 Bradlee Dean expanding to Annandale By Chuck Sterling The founder of a controversial Christian youth program says he plans to set up shop in Annandale early next year. Bradlee Dean of You Can Run But You Cannot Hide said last week he’s opening an office in the old fire hall on Main Street and hopes to occupy it in February. Dean is a reformed drug addict and born-again Christian who has come under fire for preaching religion at public high school anti-drug assemblies. Dean has also published ads, titled letters from the Dean to the youth, in the Advocate and other newspapers attacking evolution theory, homosexuality and the DARE drug abuse prevention program, among other things. You Can Run But You Cannot Hide is based in Plymouth, but Dean said he’s opening an Annandale office because he and his family moved to the area in September. He hopes to open a couple more offices in the Minneapolis metro area in the future, he said, and ultimately to have offices across the country. The Annandale space will be in Main Street Station, the former fire hall that the city sold to TAG Development after firefighters moved into new quarters last year. Steve Bruggeman of TAG said Dean’s organization will occupy about 5,400 square feet, which takes up most of the building. TAG will change the new facade it has put on the building to install a garage door at the north end for Dean’s tour bus. Inside, it will build a reception area, offices, conference room and garage, Bruggeman said. Six people will work in the office, Dean said. He has a staff of 13 but figures he needs four more for the Annandale expansion. He plans to hold an open house to meet the public before moving in. Dean said the youth ministry and its band, Junkyard Prophet, will put Annandale on the national map. Junkyard Prophet was voted second-best unsigned band nationwide, he said. Dean is the band’s drummer. “It’s getting bigger and bigger all the time.” When fans ask where the band’s from, Annandale will gain fame by association. The band is central to the youth program that Dean started eight years ago in his basement, according to its web site, www.youcanrunbutyoucannothide.com. “Our mission is to reach the youth of this nation with a message of hope, conveying civic responsibility, morality and ethical behavior,” the site says. “Our method is to take our group with the band Junkyard Prophet to schools, prisons, detention centers, festivals, rallies, the streets and any avenue available to make the impact needed. “Music is what the kids love and we know that this is a powerful tool to reach them in their own language. The music opens the door and paves the way for the message the speakers are to present.” The program has visited 224 schools across the country and has touched at least 500,000 young people, according to the web site. “Our goal is to reach at least 1 million young people from coast to coast, and from nation to nation.” Dean, 39, described the program as “a ministry, so it is Christian all the way, through and through.” Most of its appearances are at public high schools, he said. A story in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette is an example of the criticism the group has received over its presentations. It told of complaints by students and parents after You Can Run But You Cannot Hide appeared at a high school in Eureka Springs, Ark. “Some students ... said that what began as a message to stay away from alcohol transgressed into rants from lecturers on topics including abortion, gun control, the sanctity of marriage and ‘the dangers of rock and roll.’” The story said Dean replied that the message in the group’s performance had been altered by liberal students who were “bending” what was said. He told the Advocate that the phrase separation of church and state appears nowhere in the Constitution, Declaration of Independence or Bill of Rights. The First Amendment says Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, but it doesn’t ban what he’s doing, Dean said. “Everything I talk about (in the high schools) is things that I’ve been through,” he said, calling the presentation an “American patriotic message.” “On average we ask $1,500 to $2,000 an assembly,” Dean said. But he told of two cases where the group had to pay expenses of $1,000 and $1,200 because the schools didn’t have the money. You Can Run But You Cannot Hide also raises money from donations received in exchange for magazines, T-shirts, books and pamphlets, he said. Dean also hosts a two-hour broadcast on two Minneapolis radio stations each weekend. His newspaper ads say You Can Run But You Cannot Hide is a charitable church ministry that is not for profit and maintains nontaxable status under the Internal Revenue Code. | ||||
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