Christian leaders urge guarding rights of Minneapolis church

Christian leaders this week stressed that an anti-ICE protest violated worshippers' religious liberties by disrupting a Minneapolis-St. Paul’s church service. Around three dozen demonstrators interrupted Cities Church’s sermon on Sunday with chants calling for Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to leave town. One of the church’s pastors, David Easterwood, is a local field office director for ICE. The protesters on Sunday also voiced concern about justice for Renee Good, a protester killed during an altercation with police.

• North American Mission Board President Kevin Ezell on Monday described the protests as lawless harassment. The leader of the Southern Baptist Convention-affliated entity said no cause justifies the desecration of a sacred space or the trauma inflicted on families. Cities Church Lead Pastor Jonathan Parnell is a church planter from the mission board, according to its statement.
• Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, said Monday on social media that invading a church is an unacceptable violation of religious liberty. In an earlier post, the prominent Catholic leader added that everyone on all sides needs to stop shouting at one another and demonizing their opponents.
• The Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention said Monday that the church is a place for spiritual transformation, not a platform for political theater. It added that there are clear protections for religious gatherings under both state and federal law.

How has federal law protected churches against protests? Several churches have relied on the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances & Places of Religious Worship Act, also known as the FACE Act, to file lawsuits against protesters in recent months. In November, a San Diego–area church sued 50 agitators, alleging that their protests infringed on the ministry’s constitutional right to hold religious gatherings safely. In September, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit under the FACE Act, contending that protesters illegally targeted a synagogue in West Orange, N.J.

The First Amendment to the Constitution established Americans’ rights to exercise religion, assemble peaceably, and speak freely.

Have any of the protesters against Cities Church been arrested? While none have been arrested, Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights, said Monday that the Justice Department won’t stand for protesters who actively commit crimes by trespassing in the house of God. Dhillon added that they could face felony charges. 

Dig deeper: Read my report on how church members responded with prayer to the protesters.