Chattanooga Drive-in Church Service Gets Shut Down, ADF Files Lawsuit
Apr 17, 2020
Some pastors in cities and states currently not on lockdown have been providing drive-in church as an alternative to live streaming. But when Metropolitan Tabernacle Church (also known as Metro Tab) in Chattanooga attempted to try it over Easter weekend, the city mayor shut it down.
On Thursday the Alliance Defending Freedom filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court on behalf of Metro Tab challenging this decision based on violations of the First Amendment protection of free exercise of religion, free speech, and right to assemble.
Met Tab planned a service in which churchgoers could worship in their cars with their radios tuned to the church broadcast and windows rolled up. Pastor Steve Ball had been advised by the Chattanooga Police Department that such a service would not violate the city’s stay-at-home order. A fellow Chattanooga pastor advised Ball that Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke had said the same thing.
In fact, Mayor Berke’s stay-at-home order, 2020-006, incorporates the definition of “essential activities” and “essential businesses” from Governor Bill Lee’s Executive Order 22. In that order, visiting a place of worship is an essential activity “provided that the Health Guidelines are followed to the greatest extent practicable.” Additionally, it provides that essential services include “Religious and Ceremonial Functions,” which “includes, but is not limited to: religious facilities, . . . services, rites, and gatherings,” again, provided the appropriate health guidelines are followed.
In a tweet, however, Mayor Berke said his order would “strictly prohibit large gatherings of any kind, and this, unfortunately, includes worship services. . . . We respectfully ask that churches in our area not move forward with ‘drive-in’ worship services or any other kind of public assembly.”
According to the lawsuit, as recently as April 14, the city issued a statement concerning the executive order: “The Mayor is required to reissue these orders every seven days and continues to do so until it is deemed safe to lift this order. This means: . . . No drive-in church service.”
“City officials go too far when they single out churches for punishment, preventing them from alternate versions of worship during this pandemic that are specifically designed to comply with health and safety recommendations from both state and federal authorities,” said ADF Senior Counsel Ryan Tucker, director of the ADF Center for Christian Ministries.
No hearing has been scheduled on this matter, but we will provide updates as the information is available.
One of the legal arguments on which the church relies is based on Tennessee’s “Statute for the Preservation of Religious Freedom, Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-1-407,” which was brought to the legislature by and lobbied for by FACT.
Metro Tab Complaint
Alliance Defending Freedom
ADF files suit to challenge Chattanooga ban on drive-in church services
Alliance Defending Freedom
Andy Berke’s Twitter Thread About Church Services
Andy Berke’s Twitter
Executive Order No. 22
Tennessee Secretary of State
Executive Order 2020-06
Connect.Chattanooga.gov
Executive Order 2020-06 FAQs
Connect.Chattanooga.gov
NOTE: FACT provides links to external websites for educational purposes only. The inclusion of any links to other websites does not necessarily constitute an endorsement.
On Thursday the Alliance Defending Freedom filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court on behalf of Metro Tab challenging this decision based on violations of the First Amendment protection of free exercise of religion, free speech, and right to assemble.
Met Tab planned a service in which churchgoers could worship in their cars with their radios tuned to the church broadcast and windows rolled up. Pastor Steve Ball had been advised by the Chattanooga Police Department that such a service would not violate the city’s stay-at-home order. A fellow Chattanooga pastor advised Ball that Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke had said the same thing.
In fact, Mayor Berke’s stay-at-home order, 2020-006, incorporates the definition of “essential activities” and “essential businesses” from Governor Bill Lee’s Executive Order 22. In that order, visiting a place of worship is an essential activity “provided that the Health Guidelines are followed to the greatest extent practicable.” Additionally, it provides that essential services include “Religious and Ceremonial Functions,” which “includes, but is not limited to: religious facilities, . . . services, rites, and gatherings,” again, provided the appropriate health guidelines are followed.
In a tweet, however, Mayor Berke said his order would “strictly prohibit large gatherings of any kind, and this, unfortunately, includes worship services. . . . We respectfully ask that churches in our area not move forward with ‘drive-in’ worship services or any other kind of public assembly.”
According to the lawsuit, as recently as April 14, the city issued a statement concerning the executive order: “The Mayor is required to reissue these orders every seven days and continues to do so until it is deemed safe to lift this order. This means: . . . No drive-in church service.”
“City officials go too far when they single out churches for punishment, preventing them from alternate versions of worship during this pandemic that are specifically designed to comply with health and safety recommendations from both state and federal authorities,” said ADF Senior Counsel Ryan Tucker, director of the ADF Center for Christian Ministries.
No hearing has been scheduled on this matter, but we will provide updates as the information is available.
One of the legal arguments on which the church relies is based on Tennessee’s “Statute for the Preservation of Religious Freedom, Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-1-407,” which was brought to the legislature by and lobbied for by FACT.
News Sources
Metro Tab ComplaintAlliance Defending Freedom
ADF files suit to challenge Chattanooga ban on drive-in church services
Alliance Defending Freedom
Andy Berke’s Twitter Thread About Church Services
Andy Berke’s Twitter
Executive Order No. 22
Tennessee Secretary of State
Executive Order 2020-06
Connect.Chattanooga.gov
Executive Order 2020-06 FAQs
Connect.Chattanooga.gov
NOTE: FACT provides links to external websites for educational purposes only. The inclusion of any links to other websites does not necessarily constitute an endorsement.
