An Ol' Broad's Ramblings
Super Bowl – Yes. Bible Study – No.
When I first saw this headline in an email alert yesterday, my first thought was that it must be some town in a Muslim country. Or, perhaps some place like Cuba.
Much to my surprise, when I finally clicked on the link this morning, it wasn’t some foreign country, it was my own. Again!
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Banished! City forbids Bible studies in homes
‘This letter will serve as a 10-day written notice to quit such use’
The city of Gilbert, Ariz., has ordered a group of seven adults to stop gathering for Bible studies in a private home because such meetings are forbidden by the city’s zoning codes.
The issue was brought to a head when city officials wrote a letter to a pastor and his wife informing them they had 10 days to quit having the meetings in their private home.
What appears to be a ‘burb of Phoenix, has decided home Bible studies are a no no? A zoning code? Uh, what do they do when someone has a baby shower? Christmas parties? A church isn’t a building. It’s the people. Do you know how many churches have gotten started by a few folks, gathering in someone’s home, to learn, pray, and praise the Lord? My own church (a year before I started attending, with barely 20 or 30) was doing just that. They started out with 5 people, meeting in homes. They had graduated to a little double wide trailer, that had to be renovated to accommodate our growing numbers. We finally have a real church building, with a steeple and everything. Seats about 150? Maybe more. Seems to me, when the church started, way back when, there was one “Leader” and a few fishermen.
“The interpretation and enforcement of the town’s code is clearly unconstitutional, ” said Daniel Blomberg, a member of the litigation team for ADF. “It bans 200,000 Gilbert residents from meeting in their private homes for organized religious purposes – an activity encouraged in the Bible, practiced for thousands of years, and protected by the First Amendment.”
I’d really like to know what kind of people they have on that city council who have decided folks gathering to worship God are breaking the ‘law’.
There had been no complaints about the meetings, which had been rotating among members’ homes before the officer wrote the letter and ordered the group to “terminate all religious meetings … regardless of their size, nature or frequency,” because he noticed signs about the meetings.
The town interprets its law so that “churches within its borders cannot have any home meetings of any size, including Bible studies, three-person church leadership meetings and potluck dinners,” ADF said.
Is it just Christian churches they are banning from meeting? I wonder if any Muslims groups, of three or more, decided to meet in someone’s home, would they be banned as well?
“The assembly activities associated with the church, including Bible studies, church leadership meetings and church fellowship activities are not permitted,” wrote Mike Milillo, the city’s senior planner.
“This ban is defended based upon traffic, parking, and building safety concerns. However, nothing in its zoning code prevents weekly Cub Scouts meetings, Monday Night Football parties with numerous attendees or large business parties from being held on a regular basis in private homes,” the ADF said.
I did a little snooping on ol’ Mike. Not a whole lot, but from what I did gather, this city bunch is quite the “progressive” type, with an obsession about signs. So, I suppose it’s not really all that surprising when they get their knickers in a twist over a few people getting together.
Matthew 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
I wonder when they’ll start shutting down the big churches. Considering the number of Mosques they have in the area, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was sooner, rather than later.
If traffic is the REAL concern, which is highly doubtful, then all you folks in Gilbert better start rethinking your home weddings, Cub Scout meetings, and adult sex toy parties!
The small church has been forced to halt its regular meetings. It meets now in a local school but only can afford the rental once a week.
Honestly, if I were them, I’d tell that bozo to stick it where the sun don’t shine! There is absolutely NO reason why this should have ever been an issue, ESPECIALLY in a country that was founded by the guiding principle of law found in the study of that same Bible that ol’ Mike and his buddies seems to find so offensive.
A spokeswoman for the city of Gilbert told WND city officials were aware of the concern and planned to address it.
Vice Mayor Linda Abbott told WND the code apparently was adopted years earlier, and there was considerable concern on the city council because of the current issues.
“I’m not in favor of that code. That is something we would want revisited,” she said.
A voice of reason? Maybe. Who wrote that code? When was it implemented? How did it get passed? And just who, with an ounce of integrity, would ever enforce such an offensive code? The folks in San Diego got an apology. Will these people get the same?
Ah, yes. The wonderful municipalities of the Maricopa County area.
I belong to a group that meets in our Pastor’s home. We have enough money to build a church building, but we can’t do it on the property that the church owns, because it’s not zoned for commercial use. It is in a residential area, and we are still pretty small – on Sundays, there are about 60 or so that show up, with about 18 – 20 cars. The car count was an issue with the city – on a street that has a DAILY car count of over 30,000. So, we meet in the game room that the Pastor had built (he has five daughters, and playing outside is not an option in the summer). The city has a problem with that, too – something about non-permitted gatherings. In other words, we need a permit to gather on private property. The cars park off the street, behind a block wall, so there are no street blocking issues, but the city says we are still creating “excess traffic”.
Remember the new mosque being built in Phoenix, about the time the bells of the church were being silenced by the city? Well, turns out they don’t have enough space for parking – so they were parking on the streets around the mosque, until the city put up No Parking signs. We have plenty of space for our parking, but we’re “not allowed” to gather at a private residence, by invitation only? It’s all politics.
The city of Gilbert is asking to be hit with a 1A lawsuit. The city of Phoenix is one step away from paying for some land for our group to build a church on, but they don’t know it yet.
Kick butt, and add up the names!! Fan-bloomin-tastic!
Now that the Muslims have more rights than the Christians, we KNOW things are coming to a head. I hope all the small church groups end up OWNING that town!
Uh…yeah, this kind of stuff makes me a smidge angry! In case ya didn’t notice.