{"id":278,"date":"2011-05-31T11:55:22","date_gmt":"2011-05-31T15:55:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/faithandjustice\/?p=278"},"modified":"2011-05-31T11:55:22","modified_gmt":"2011-05-31T15:55:22","slug":"keeping-church-doors-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/05\/keeping-church-doors-open.html","title":{"rendered":"Keeping Church Doors Open"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is not unusual for our organization to receive a call or email from a church or ministry requesting our assistance.<\/p>\n

Often these cases are resolved out of court – without a lawsuit being filed.\u00a0 That’s exactly what happened with two different cases recently.<\/p>\n

In Huntsville, Alabama, The Way of God in Truth Ministries was denied use of a city\/public facility for its weekly Christian youth outreach program because it is a religious organization.\u0094\u00a0<\/p>\n

The City permits all other non-religious groups, organizations, and the like to use its facilities. The ministry member who contacted us shared a letter from our organization with the City Attorney that clearly spelled out the constitutional protections in place concerning this issue – equal access and equal protection for the ministry.<\/p>\n

Our attorneys then followed up with an email to the City Attorney noting that the City must permit the ministry to use its public facilities in the same manner it is offered to other community groups and citizens.
\n\u00a0
\nHere’s the good news:\u00a0 The City Attorney provided assurances in writing that The Way of God in Truth Ministries would be permitted to use one of its public meeting places.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The issue was quickly resolved and the ministry got the green light to move forward with its plans.\u00a0 As the ministry official put it in an email to our attorneys:\u00a0 “Thank you! Thank you! We so appreciate your time!”\u00a0<\/p>\n

I’m pleased to report on another victory – this one out of Louisiana.<\/p>\n

The issue there involved the MORe Community Church of Leesville<\/a> where the City refused to grant a zoning permit to the church to operate its administrative offices in an office suite in the City’s commercial\/downtown district.\u00a0 The City denied the permit solely on the basis that a religious organization would be using the office space, rather than a corporation or non-religious organization.<\/p>\n

This action violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). <\/a>We immediately sent the City a demand letter on behalf of the church alleging violations of RLUIPA and the Equal Protection Clause.<\/p>\n

Our demand letter and involvement in the case produced the results we were looking for.<\/p>\n

The Leesville City Attorney City contacted the ACLJ and explained that the City has granted MORe the certificate of occupancy it is entitled to for the operation of its administrative offices in the downtown district.<\/p>\n

Church officials expressed to us their gratitude for resolving this in a timely manner so the church could forward in securing its leased space.<\/p>\n

That’s just a small part of what we do at the American Center for Law and Justice.\u00a0 A small – but vital role – protecting the constitutional rights of ministries and churches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is not unusual for our organization to receive a call or email from a church or ministry requesting our assistance. Often these cases are resolved out of court – without a lawsuit being filed.\u00a0 That’s exactly what happened with two different cases recently. In Huntsville, Alabama, The Way of God in Truth Ministries was…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":401,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,3,4],"tags":[743,89,745,92,91,90,93,33,10],"class_list":["post-278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-churches","category-faith","category-justice","tag-aclj","tag-alabama","tag-churches","tag-equal-access","tag-equal-protection","tag-louisiana","tag-ministries","tag-religious-accommodation","tag-rluipa"],"yoast_head":"\nKeeping Church Doors Open - Faith & Justice<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/05\/keeping-church-doors-open.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Keeping Church Doors Open - Faith & Justice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It is not unusual for our organization to receive a call or email from a church or ministry requesting our assistance. Often these cases are resolved out of court – without a lawsuit being filed.\u00a0 That’s exactly what happened with two different cases recently. In Huntsville, Alabama, The Way of God in Truth Ministries was…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/05\/keeping-church-doors-open.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Faith & Justice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-05-31T15:55:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jay Sekulow\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Keeping Church Doors Open - Faith & Justice","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/05\/keeping-church-doors-open.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Keeping Church Doors Open - Faith & Justice","og_description":"It is not unusual for our organization to receive a call or email from a church or ministry requesting our assistance. Often these cases are resolved out of court – without a lawsuit being filed.\u00a0 That’s exactly what happened with two different cases recently. In Huntsville, Alabama, The Way of God in Truth Ministries was…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/05\/keeping-church-doors-open.html","og_site_name":"Faith & Justice","article_published_time":"2011-05-31T15:55:22+00:00","author":"Jay Sekulow","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/05\/keeping-church-doors-open.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/05\/keeping-church-doors-open.html","name":"Keeping Church Doors Open - Faith & Justice","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-05-31T15:55:22+00:00","dateModified":"2011-05-31T15:55:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/#\/schema\/person\/fd4c384af0620d4b82ae09cf1d77bdb4"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/05\/keeping-church-doors-open.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/05\/keeping-church-doors-open.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/2011\/05\/keeping-church-doors-open.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Keeping Church Doors Open"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/","name":"Faith & Justice","description":"Jay Sekulow - ACLJ","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/#\/schema\/person\/fd4c384af0620d4b82ae09cf1d77bdb4","name":"Jay Sekulow","description":"Jay Sekulow is Chief Counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), a law firm and educational organization that focuses on constitutional law. He is also Chief Counsel of the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ). Jay Sekulow is one of the leading defenders of constitutional rights and religious liberties in the United States. Over the past 25 years, Jay Sekulow has amassed an unparalleled record of accomplishment, arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court on 12 occasions. His aggressive litigation strategy before the Supreme Court has led to many landmark First Amendment victories. In his first case before the Supreme Court, Jews for Jesus, Jay Sekulow secured the right of religious groups to pass out tracks in airports. In Mergens, Jay Sekulow successfully protected the right of students to form Bible clubs and prayer groups on public school campuses. In Lamb\u2019s Chapel, Jay Sekulow cleared the way for churches to have equal access to public facilities in the same way that other groups are permitted to utilize those facilities. In the Bray and Operation Rescue cases, Jay Sekulow protected the free speech rights of pro-life advocates to be free from criminal prosecution for conveying their pro-life message. In McConnell v. FEC, Jay Sekulow protected the right of young people to engage in the political process by donating to the campaign of their choice. In Pleasant Grove, Jay Sekulow paved the way for governments to be able to display Ten Commandments monuments, and other monuments of their choosing, in public parks. Through the ACLJ, Jay Sekulow engages the political, legal, and cultural battles facing America today. He routinely works with Members of Congress, advising them on proposed legislation and representing them in critical legal matters. Jay Sekulow has also testified before Congress on the constitutionality of proposed legislation. Also, in addition to being a successful Supreme Court advocate, Jay Sekulow is a highly respected broadcaster. Jay Sekulow is the host of Jay Sekulow Live! which airs each weekday on over 850 radio stations nationwide, in addition Sirius and XM satellite radio. He brings insight and education to listeners daily through this national call-in radio program. He is also the host of the ACLJ This Week, the ACLJ\u2019s weekly television program. Jay Sekulow regularly appears on major media outlets, including FOX News, CNN, ABC, CBS, and NBC, where he is sought out for his vast experience in constitutional law and his unique insight into many of the pressing legal and political issues facing America today. He is frequently quoted in the nation's leading newspapers and often contributes opinion editorials to national publications. Jay Sekulow has also published numerous law review and other scholarly articles. Jay Sekulow has received numerous honors for his groundbreaking legal work in the area of free speech and religious liberties. The Legal Times has named Sekulow one of \u201cThe 90 Greatest Washington Lawyers of the Last 30 Years\u201d and the National Law Journal has twice named Sekulow one of the \u201c100 Most Influential Lawyers\u201d in the United States. In addition, TIME Magazine listed Jay Sekulow as one of the \"25 Most Influential Evangelicals\" in America. Jay Sekulow\u2019s legal work in defense of religious liberties and human rights extends beyond the United States, having founded the ECLJ in Strasbourg, France, which maintains consultative status with the United Nations. He has also opened offices in Pakistan, Africa, and Jerusalem, Israel. Jay Sekulow is a staunch defender of Israel, presenting arguments before the International Criminal Court at the Hague. His efforts in support of Israel\u2019s right to defend itself from terrorist attacks have been commended by Israeli government officials, one official stating, \"Jay was instrumentally-involved in projects that the President of Israel and the Prime Minister put on our national agenda.\" Jay Sekulow also has a passion for educating the next generation of religious liberty advocates. He is a member of the Regent University Law School Faculty as a Distinguished Professor of Law and routinely teaches courses on constitutional law and presents guest lectures. Jay Sekulow has also started educational programs in international human rights law in Strasbourg, France and at Handong University in South Korea. Jay Sekulow is a graduate of Mercer University, earning both a bachelor\u2019s degree and doctor of jurisprudence. Sekulow served on the editorial staff of the Mercer Law Review and graduated cum laude. He later earned a Ph.D. from Regent University, writing his dissertation on American Legal History. Jay Sekulow also serves on the Board of Trustees for The Supreme Court Historical Society in Washington, D.C. Jay Sekulow, ACLJ Chief Counsels full biography and video. Jay Sekulow on Facebook. Jay Sekulow on Twitter. Jay Sekulow on YouTube.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/author\/jay_sekulow"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/401"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=278"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":282,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278\/revisions\/282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithandjustice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}