FRIDAY, MAY 01, 2020
By Michael Gryboski,
Mainline Church Editor
A congregation in Illinois has filed a lawsuit against the governor and local officials, claiming that their orders to stop in-person worship conveyed “discriminatory hostility” to churches.
The Beloved Church of Lena and Pastor Stephen Cassell filed the complaint on Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Rockford.
Beloved Church plans to hold in-person worship on Sunday, despite being told by officials in the past that they are not allowed to hold services during the coronavirus shutdown.
The suit claims that Gov. Jay Pritzker and officials with Lena and Stephenson County unlawfully declared houses of worship “non-essential” when enacting stay-at-home orders.
“On the eve of Easter, the holiest day on the Christian calendar, Pritzker expressly prohibited even no-contact, drive-in services in Illinois church parking lots. At the same time, he declared a laundry list of businesses to be ‘essential,’ from liquor stores to lawyers to landscapers,” the complaint says.
“[Pritzker] has flagrantly violated the fundamental religious liberties of Illinoisans, in violation of the First Amendment’s Free Exercise clause and parallel provisions of the Illinois Constitution and statute.”
-
Tags
#Illinois