A Tennessee church announced Thursday afternoon that it is suing Chattanooga Mayor Andrew Berke for banning drive-in services, the latest in a growing trend of such religious liberty cases.
The church, Metropolitan Tabernacle, filed a complaint with the aid of Alliance Defending Freedom, a legal group already representing a Mississippi church that sued over drive-in bans. The church’s leaders allege that Berke’s April 9 order, saying that drive-in services, even “with the windows rolled up, for any length of time, will be considered a violation of our shelter-in-place directive,” is unconstitutional and a violation of Tennessee’s Statute for the Preservation of Religious Freedom.
“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,” ADF Senior Counsel Ryan Tucker said in a statement.
The suit also alleges that Berke’s order comes into conflict with Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s stay-at-home order, which allows for churches to hold drive-in services during the coronavirus lockdown.
Chattanooga police had informed its pastor, Steve Ball, that drive-in services would not violate the city’s stay-at-home order, according to the complaint. Ball said that he planned to broadcast his services over the radio while members sat in the cars in the church’s parking lot, with their windows rolled up. Ball also said that he received assurances from another pastor who spoke with Berke that drive-in services would be permitted.
Berke’s order prompted Ball to cancel his Easter Sunday drive-in service out of fear of receiving citations similar to the ones members of Temple Baptist Church received in Greenville, Mississippi, when they held a service in violation of the city’s ban.
Although no services were broken up and no members of Metropolitan Tabernacle were ticketed for drive-in services, church leaders say that the ban is “neither neutral nor generally applicable” to other institutions in Chattanooga, pointing out that the city allows people to park at the fast food restaurant Sonic with their windows down, as well as Walmart, Lowe’s, and Home Depot.
The allegation aligns with lawsuits filed in Mississippi and Kentucky, where church leaders say that city orders place an undue burden on churches, violating the First Amendment as well as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a federal law that prevents churches from being singled out by governments because of unique practices or culturally divergent beliefs.
Attorney General William Barr invoked the act on Tuesday when he issued a statement of interest supporting the churches suing in Mississippi. Barr wrote that, although it is important for governments to enforce social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic, they must not be allowed to infringe on religious liberty unless it has a “compelling reason” and can “ensure that those restrictions are narrowly tailored to advance its compelling interest.”
“Even in times of emergency, when reasonable and temporary restrictions are placed on rights, the First Amendment and federal statutory law prohibit discrimination against religious institutions and religious believers,” Barr wrote. “Thus, government may not impose special restrictions on religious activity that do not also apply to similar nonreligious activity.”
