Judge rules against home-based New Hampshire church

When a zoning enforcement officer showed up at Howard Kaloogian’s house in Weare, N.H., in August 2023, he told the pastor that he couldn’t hold Grace New England’s church services at the barn in the backyard.

Kaloogian was at first amused to hear an official telling him he couldn’t worship with others on his own property. He told the officer that both the state zoning law and the Constitution protect his right to hold religious assemblies in his barn.

But when the town threatened to fine the pastor, Kaloogian sued.

“This isn’t a business. This is a calling, and I have worshipped God in my home and in every home that I’ve ever lived in,” Kaloogian told me. “The town is telling me that if I do that with another person, that’s illegal. And that’s just wrong.”

Last week, a U.S. District Court in New Hampshire ruled against the pastor, stating that the town can require Kaloogian to complete the zoning regulations process. But legal experts caution that the decision violates religious land use rights and sets a concerning precedent across the state.

Kaloogian started Grace New England in 2023 as a church plant of the Woodlands, Texas–based Grace International Churches and Ministries. While Grace New England’s first meeting had fewer than 10 people, it has now grown to around 30 weekly attendees.

The church meets in Kaloogian’s 200-year-old barn on his 5-acre property. The pastor renovated the barn, adding pews, a pulpit, and a heater to help congregants worship comfortably in New Hampshire winters.

The zoning officer who talked with Kaloogian in 2023 said he had to complete a lengthy and expensive site plan application to be in compliance with zoning regulations. The officer noted that the pastor could seek a conditional use permit to operate his home as a place of assembly, but he said this application would likely be denied, according to the lawsuit.

But Kaloogian contended that the town’s 2019 zoning ordinance allowed churches to meet on residential properties. He sent a letter to the officer’s supervisors, noting he had never been accused of violating zoning regulations while hosting other events at his barn. For instance, he once held a meet-and-greet with then-presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that brought in around 300 guests.

Kaloogian, a former attorney and California state assemblyman, added that the First Amendment ensured he didn’t need to complete the permit application process as the government’s actions hindered his right to freely worship in his home.

In October 2023, Kaloogian received a cease-and-desist notice from Weare officials stating that he had to stop hosting the church services until the town’s planning board received a formal site plan. They threatened to fine him $275 for the first offense and then $550 “for subsequent offenses each day that such violation is found.” Kaloogian’s attorneys sent a letter, and the town temporarily lifted the notice the next day.

But officials continued to insist Kaloogian needed to jump through regulatory hoops to host his church services, so he filed a lawsuit in February 2024. “Most people simply roll over and comply,” Kaloogian said. “I decided that this is an area that I cannot yield on.”

He asked the court to stop the town’s unlawful actions, citing the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. RLUIPA states that the government may not “impose or implement a land use regulation in a manner that imposes a substantial burden” on religious exercise unless it shows the burden is the least restrictive means of furthering a compelling interest.

Kaloogian said his church continues to meet in the barn. “We are going to hold church services, and we are going to hold Bible studies, we are going to hold prayer meetings, and we are going to worship God in my home,” Kaloogian said. “That is every American’s right. We haven’t stopped, and we’re not going to.”

In April, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a statement of interest supporting the church. The DOJ said the town allowed Kaloogian to hold secular events in the barn, such as weddings, pinochle games, backgammon tournaments, and political rallies. It didn’t make restrictive zoning demands until he started using the barn for religious services, the DOJ said.

But in last week’s 50-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Paul Barbadoro said that Weare’s zoning regulations don’t discriminate religiously against the pastor. Barbadoro said Kaloogian brought his case prematurely, adding that the pastor has not taken any formal steps to receive a waiver from town officials.

Barbadoro added that he understands why the town would seek to have Kaloogian adhere to the zoning regulations, as “the enduring and recurring magnitude of these gatherings” makes them different from other gatherings. The church’s services raise public health and safety concerns, he said.

“Operating a successful, well-attended church is not one and the same as privately worshipping with friends and family in one’s home,” Barbadoro wrote. “While the latter commonly occurs in a home, the former seldom does.” Barbadoro said Weare may want to address these concerns through temporary measures, like event permits.

Barbadoro’s order is ironic since Kaloogian’s attorneys recently sent a letter to the judge explaining that the pastor planned to go to a hearing in December to ask for the waiver Barbadoro mentioned, said Jeremy Dys, senior counsel for First Liberty, which represents the pastor.

This isn’t the only instance of local governments trying to restrict home-based religious gatherings, Dys added. In 2024, a rabbi in Hawaii sued a county after he was fined more than $40,000 in zoning violations for hosting occasional prayer meetings and Sabbath celebrations with 15 to 20 people.

Dys said that Kaloogian is weighing the next steps in his case. Even if he receives the necessary waiver following December’s hearing, he still has to deal with the ruling from Barbadoro.

Dys emphasized that regardless of whether or not Kaloogian has a waiver, the First Amendment protects his right to freely exercise his religion.

“Super Bowl parties only happen once a year, but you can have 250 people crammed inside of a rickety old building to be able to watch,” Dys said. “But if you want to have 15 or 30 people meet in a well-constructed barn for regular meetings of religious worship, you need to go to the town and ask your permission to use your home for that.”