April was a busy month. Covid-19 has impacted all of us in significant ways. While we understand the serious health risks of this pandemic, we also do not believe that our constitutional rights should be put on hold indefinitely. One of the areas we have been working hard on is equipping and supporting churches that have a conviction that they are required to physically gather together in the same location. Our goal has been to help them assemble for church service together, safely and with the cooperation of local governments.
Here are some of the things we were able to accomplish:
412 Church in Murrieta was able to hold a drive-in Easter service after we sent multiple demand letters and phone calls to the County of Riverside. Hundreds of cars drove into a movie theatre parking lot to attend a live Easter service. The County temporarily allowed drive-in services just for Easter weekend.
After the success of the drive-in Easter service, we sent letters to Riverside and Ventura counties threatening legal action unless they lifted their bans on drive-in services. Within days, both counties lifted the ban.
Churches in Mendocino County were prohibited from singing in their churches during live-steam services. We sent a strongly worded letter to county officials that resulted in them rescinding their ban on singing worship. We were ready to file a lawsuit, but as a result of our letters, the county backed down on many of their restrictions.
We advised Pastor Rob McCoy of Godspeak Calvary Chapel in Ventura County when he opened his church to allow communion services for ten people at a time.
We are representing a Jewish Synagogue in Ventura County. Under the previous county order, they were not allowed to even live stream a Sabbath Torah service. After we wrote a letter to the county, the order was changed to allow the Torah service.
We are providing legal counsel to peaceful citizen protestors, including a pastor, that were made an example of by being arrested at the California State Capitol as they called for an end to churches and other businesses.
We teamed up with the National Center for Law and Policy and filed a lawsuit on behalf of a church in Lodi, California that was banned from entering their church building and even their parking lot by local government officials.
Advocates for Faith & Freedom has taken the lead on partnering with church leaders and other religious liberty law firms to draft a legal letter calling for California’s Governor to designate religious assemblies as “essential.” This letter may also serve as a template for every state.
So that you can get a sense of the approach we take in handling this sensitive situation, I’d like to share an excerpt of the letter we sent to Ventura County that resulted in the county allowing drive-in services and easing restrictions on gathering to stream religious worship:
On behalf of our clients, we must first acknowledge the significant efforts you have made to protect the health and safety of the residents in Ventura County. Your efforts are appreciated, and we believe you had the best interests of Ventura residents in mind when you implemented the current coronavirus restrictions. However, in addition to my clients’ desire to be good citizens and their concerns over the coronavirus, they have serious concerns about preserving their fundamental liberties enshrined in the U.S. and State Constitutions.
In times of national crisis, we should reflect upon our founding documents and the concerns of our forefathers when establishing our democratic republic. The Declaration of Independence states:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their Safety and Happiness. (emphasis added)
Our clients are convinced that “we the people” are ultimately responsible to protect the individual liberties that may be lost unnecessarily during times of crisis regardless of whether public officials’ actions are well intentioned. With you, we struggle with finding the right balance of public safety and individual liberty considering the coronavirus. It is for these reasons that our firm is representing the public’s interest in preserving individual liberties and serving as a counterbalance to unchecked regulatory action.
Relying on our strong legal strategies, Advocates lawyers are bringing spiritual relief to many Christians who have a deep and sincere reliance upon their connections with their churches. Won’t you please support us with your donation as we move forward through this quarantine and continue our fight for religious institutions and our First Amendment rights?
““The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority.” ”
In His Service,
Robert H. Tyler
General Counsel
