Calif. Pentecostal church loses worship ban lawsuit, appeals to Supreme Court
After a federal appeals court rejected a California church's request for a temporary restraining order against the state’s ban on worship gatherings, the church is now taking its case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
South Bay United Pentecostal Church in San Diego, which draws 200-300 congregants, petitioned the nation's highest court on Sunday to intervene as it seeks to hold in-person services amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“California’s four stage Reopening Plan permits manufacturing, warehousing, retail, offices, seated dining at restaurants, and schools to reopen, but bans places of worship from holding church services. On its face, this plan is a blatant violation of the Free Exercise Clause of our First Amendment,” Tom Brejcha, president and chief counsel for the Thomas More Society, argued....
