The New Life in Christ Fellowship church was briefly barricaded off today as police dealt with a grenade that had been dropped off at the church's gun amnesty program designed to get guns off the street.

Police and emergency personnel barricade off the New Life in Christ Fellowship church in Coatesville following the discovery that a grenade had been turned in as part of a gun amnesty program

"Someone came and dropped off a weapon and grenade," city Police Chief William Matthews said. He said bomb technicians were called in to deal with the grenade. The grenade was handled without incident.

Police and emergency personnel closed down South Fifth Avenue between East Lincoln Highway and Harmony Street until the grenade could be removed.

"Right now the bomb technicians don't want to move it," Matthews said the from scene.

The New Life in Christ Church at 1 South Fifth Avenue sponsored a Gun Amnesty Day in the hopes of removing guns from the street. The church promised no question would be asked and no arrests made and each person turning in a gun would receive a $100 gift certificate.

Others sponsoring the event were the Brandywine Health Foundation, The Stewart Huston Charitable Trust, the Coatesville Flower Shop, the Coatesville Rotary Club, District Justice Grover Koon, and Steve Cunningham.

Just how much amnesty could be granted by a community or religious organization came in to doubt at Monday night's city council meeting. Matthews said the only amnesty that could be provided was that police would not have a means to track the weapon back to the owner. "Technically, there is no amnesty," he said following the meeting.