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'It's impacting their lives in a positive way' | Knoxville church sees benefit in keeping Harry Potter on the shelves

A Nashville catholic school pulled the books after a pastor said the series was inappropriate.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Harry Potter books are no longer on library shelves at a Nashville Catholic school after a pastor said they were inappropriate.

But a downtown Knoxville church believes the books shine in a different light.

"We're getting to reach community members we wouldn't normally reach on a typical Sunday," said Church Street United Methodist Church children's director Katryn Bancroft.

RELATED: Nashville Catholic school removes Harry Potter books due to 'actual curses and spells'

Once a year you'll find the walls inside of Church Street UMC in downtown turn into the magical world of Harry Potter as it hosts a two day camp combining a way for kids to learn about their faith with a series they enjoy. 

 "It's something they love, they don't have to know it's just all about Jesus," she said. 

Camp Hogwarts started in 2012 and sees anywhere from 35 to 85 kindergartners through rising sixth graders each year. 

"They're reading it for fun but then they can read it later to see what they learned from the camp," said Bancroft. 

But not all agree the wizarding series can teach these lessons. Back when the books first released in the late 90s and early 2000s, the series saw a number of schools ban it for its magic and witchcraft. 

More than two decades after the first book released, a Nashville pastor at St. Edward Church and School is also removing Harry Potter from the school library, saying the books were inappropriate for a variety of reasons. 

The school superintendent said even though the Catholic Church has not taken an official position on Harry Potter, the pastor can still pull the books. 

"Dumbledore says in the book it's the choices that we make, so that's one thing we teach with the kids is you can choose your faith or you can choose not your faith," said Bancroft. 

On the other hand, nothing is slowing down the rise of Church Street UMC's popular camp as it expects to grow in years to come.

"It's impacting their lives in a positive way," said Bancroft, "We tie in scripture with it, we have a lesson on putting on the armor of God and how they can use that to go through challenges in their life they may face."

Knox County Public Library also hosts their own version of Camp Hogwarts that will run all next month.

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