Arizona town bans church from in-home meetings and Bible studies

[The Straight Story]

Arizona town bans church from in-home meetings and Bible studies


The pastor of the seven-member Oasis of Truth Church in Gilbert, AZ was ordered by a cease and desist letter to terminate religious meetings in his home, no matter the size or frequency, based on zoning regulations.

The small church, which had held meetings in various members’ homes on a weekly rotation, met for just a few hours each week. The town cites its zoning codes which it contends prohibit churches from holding home meetings of any size. This includes Bible studies, potluck dinners or even three person church leadership meetings. The defense of the ban cites traffic, parking, and building safety concerns, yet doesn’t specifically prevent the likes of Cub Scout Meetings, football or business parties.

In November, the church was ordered by letter from a Gilbert code compliance officer to terminate the church meetings in Pastor Joe Sutherland’s home. Although no complaints were cited, the termination order was a response to signs about the meetings near Sutherland’s home. In response, Sutherland ceased the meetings in December and requested clarification of the zoning code from the town’s zoning administrator. He was answered first with an informal response to his questions. The reply offered a more detailed and formal response in the form of a zoning interpretation, provided at a fee of $305, upholding the alleged basis for the ban.

Attorneys for the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) have filed an appeal in the past week to overturn the decision. “Christian church groups shouldn’t be singled out for discrimination and banned from meeting in their own homes. The interpretation and enforcement of the town’s code is clearly unconstitutional. It bans 200,000 Gilbert residents from meeting in their private homes for organized religious purposes-an activity encouraged in the Bible, practiced for thousands of years, and protected by the First Amendment,” said ADF Litigation Counsel Daniel Bloomberg.

http://www.examiner.com/x-1455-Christian-Singles--Spirituality-Examiner~y2010m3d13-Arizona-town-bans-church-from-inhome-meetings-and-Bible-studies

also here:
http://www.kpho.com/news/22832173/detail.html

[JCMach1]

1. They should just throw a 'Jesus' party!!!

and not call it a church...

That should work legally! lol


In support of these folks... seems like zoning NAZIs are at it again.

In this case anyway, we should support our Xtian brethren.

[MrScorpio]

3. Exactly

The First Amendment trumps local zoning laws

[rucky]

2. I'm with the church on this one.

this seems really unconstitutional to me.

[av8rdave]

4. Particularly bad when other groups aren't facing similar enforcement

[MrScorpio]

6. Whatever happened to Equal Protection Under the Law in that town? nt

[av8rdave]

19. I've found that equal protection is something we like to boast about, but....

the execution is far from perfect sometimes.

[Coventina]

20. Gilbert is notorious for being a hotbed of RW extremism.

And by RW, I mean borderline (or beyond borderline) Fascists.

So, even though I'm sure the majority of the population are Christians, their main concern is that their neighborhood streets don't get lined with cars, or too many of the "wrong kind" of people congregate in one place.

[HereSince1628]

7. Me too, I'm with youbetting this gets struck down

[rug]

5. Where do theTea Party clowns in Gilbert meet?

http://www.teapartypatriots.org/State/Arizona#Gilbert

[MrScorpio]

8. I wonder what side they'll end up on...

The Christians or the poor ol' Zoning board?

[rug]

9. An excellent dilemma.

[hobbit709]

10. As little as I think of religion, this is wrong on Constitutional grounds.

[timtom]

11. Just as I suspected!

Gilbert is in Maricopa County! Arpaio land!

[no_hypocrisy]

12. Similar situation in Rockland County, NY (Monsey, Airmount)

Sect of Orthodox Judaism practices in homes, not synangogues. They even bake matzoh for Passover commercially in homes without oversight of health regulators. They make the same arguments about the right to practice their religion unimpeded.

[newfie11]

13. oh for pete sakes!!!!

What is this country coming to.

[RC]

14. Dicktatorship. They just keep chipping away, a bit at a time...

(No it is not misspelled)

[Bill McBlueState]

15. I know DU is supposed to be all anti-Christian and everything

But here are 15 posts, and nobody has yet sided with the town.

[annabanana]

16. I'm pretty sure this is an unconstitutional ruling.

I'd hate to have that done to me and any group that I was gathering.

[MineralMan]

17. Why does Gilbert hate the baby Jebus so?

[Wizard777]

18. This is a Violation of RLUIPA.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_Land_Use_and_Institutionalized_Persons_Act">Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act

The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), Pub. L 106-274, 42 U.S.C. § 2000cc-1 et seq. is a United States federal law that prohibits the imposition of burdens on the ability of prisoners to worship as they please, as well as giving churches and other religious institutions a way to avoid burdensome zoning law restrictions on their property use. It was enacted by the United States Congress in 2000 to correct the problems of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) of 1993. The act was passed in both the House of Representatives and the Senate by unanimous consent in voice votes, meaning that no objection was raised to its passage, so no vote was taken.

[lonestarnot]

21. Why should any kind of meeting be banned from private property?

AZ 'bout to see another embarrassment. Do these dumbasses here never learn. Where did they come from to ruin my state? Anyone know?

[southernyankeebelle]

22. What nonsense. I am not into bible study but let these people do what they

want in the privacy of someone's home if they are invited. This is so silly.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

23. I see a smackdown coming from a federal court.

[newspeak]

24. my grandmother who resided in Phoenix

belonged to a fellowship, who believed they practiced like the first christians. Their group in some respects were like the Mennonites. Anyway, they took turns meeting at member's residence, there was no minister. They sang without instrument accompaniment--someone would just stand up and read a passage from the bible and what it meant to them. This story reminds me of my grandmother's church. Also, there was no collection plate.