There is a church in the Village of Hazel Crest, outside Chicago, called River of Life Kingdom Ministries. It is a small church with 40 to 60 regular attendees, but one deeply committed to worship and outreach.
Since 2003, the congregation has leased a property in Chicago Heights for its meetings. The church's access was limited to Sunday mornings, Wednesday evenings, and every third Saturday. In 2007, eager to expand its programs and outreach, the church took steps to acquire a property in Hazel Crest. As part of the process, the church applied in September 2007 for a special use permit, which was required to use the property. Four months later, in January of this year, the Village Board of Trustees
denied the permit by a vote of 6-1, and the church found itself unable to use its own building.
The permit is required because the Village of Hazel Crest does not permit churches in any zoning district, without special permission from officials.
The Founding Fathers of this nation recognized the importance of protecting religious freedom. The First Amendment of our Constitution declares, "
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." It is not difficult to see that unconstitutional zoning restrictions, such as the one applied in Chicago, serve to prohibit the free exercise of religion. It is important to note that this restriction is applied
only to religious groups, which must obtain this special permission to operate.
"The Village Board of Trustees has unlawfully denied the church the right to meet on its own property," said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Jeff Shafer. "The board's actions are a clear violation of church members' constitutional rights of assembly, the freedom of speech, and the free exercise of religion. If these unconstitutional tactics go unchecked, churches across America could be left out in the cold."
ADF attorneys and allied attorney David Langdon have filed a lawsuit on behalf of the church, asking the court to end this discriminatory action.
These attacks on churches are not unique to Chicago. Throughout the country, churches face discrimination and threats on a daily basis.
In New York, state officials refused to allow a church to rent an office building for an Easter service last year. The officials claimed a state policy prohibited the use of public buildings for "religious" activities, even though the buildings were open to other groups in the community.
In Detroit, ADF-allied attorney Daniel Dalton filed a lawsuit on behalf of a church whose rights were violated by city planning officials who refused to allow the church to occupy the building it had purchased.
In San Diego, ADF attorneys filed suit on behalf of Canyon Ridge Baptist Church after learning the city had been charging higher rental fees simply because it is a church.
We must continue to defend churches from these attacks. By God's grace, standing together we can defend your rights and the rights of your churches, and reclaim
Our First Liberty – religious freedom.
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