Church Fights Back Against Worship Ban at South Carolina Town Civic Center
A South Carolina town is being sued by a church for passing an ordinance that bans worship services from being held at a local civic center.
Earlier this year, the Town of Edisto Beach's city council unanimously passed a ban on churches using its civic center for worship services, citing First Amendment concerns.
Redeemer Fellowship of Edisto Island, a congregation with about 40 members, filed a lawsuit against the town on Monday in U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, Charleston Division.
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Redeemer Fellowship had been renting a space at the civic center specifically designated for "civic, political, business, social groups, and others" before the ban was instituted in May.
"The town's amended guidelines permit virtually all community groups to rent the center for all expressive activities, with the sole exception of religious worship services," read the suit.
"The town's determinations and amended guidelines violate Redeemer Fellowship's rights under the Religion and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, as well as the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. Therefore, the church seeks declaratory and injunctive relief."
Redeemer Fellowship is being represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative law firm that has argued and won several cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.
ADF legal counsel Christiana Holcomb said in a statement released Monday that houses of worship "shouldn't be treated less favorably than other groups that want to rent facilities."
"The town of Edisto Beach tells the community that it welcomes 'civic, political, business, social groups and others' to use its civic center, but the town's recent policy change singles out one form of expression, worship, as inferior to other forms of speech, and that's clearly unconstitutional," said Holcomb.
"Redeemer Fellowship and its members have invested in the Edisto community for years, and they deserve fair treatment and equal access to the town's public civic center."
In May, the Edisto Beach's town attorney Bert Duffie recommended that the council ban worship services at the civic center, citing concerns over separation of church and state.
"(W)hen you have worship services ... you have signs that are put out at the Civic Center with the religious organization's name on it and the Edisto Beach Civic Center's name on it, there's potential for flyers to be given out, and it gives the appearance that the town is endorsing or supporting whichever particular religious organization that is," said Duffie, according to the council minutes, The State reports.
Since the ban was put into place, Redeemer Fellowship has been forced to find other locations for worship, including a garage owned by one of its members, according to The State.
