TRI In The News
Gov't Preventing Ministry
From One News Now
Original article available here
Some churches in Waynesboro, Virginia, have run into problems with the city as they work to form a coalition to help the homeless. So The Rutherford Institute has come to their defense.
During winter months, the churches want to invite the homeless to spend warm nights in their buildings on a rotating basis. But Institute attorney Rita Dunaway tells OneNewsNow some of the churches have been instructed to apply for a special use permit, while others have been told to not even bother.
"The churches clearly have a biblical mandate to care for the needy, and the government is intruding upon these churches' right to exercise their religious faith in accordance with scripture," Dunaway contends.
So her firm is taking action on behalf of the area churches involved in the Waynesboro Area Refuge Ministry (WARM).
"We have informed the city that its interpretation of the zoning code in this way is a clear violation of the churches' First Amendment right," the attorney details. "And in addition to that, it also violates federal statutory law, as well as some Virginia statutory law."
More specifically, the city's requirements are in violation of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act and Virginia's Act for Religious Freedom. Further, Rutherford Institute attorneys point out that the city's zoning ordinances do not prohibit mission work of this kind.
To Dunaway's understanding, residents have not delivered any real opposition to WARM, so it just appears to be a misinterpretation on the part of city staff.
