A Fairfax County church is taking land-use officials to federal court over a recent ruling that shut down college-credit Bible classes on the property.
In a lawsuit filed earlier this month, McLean Bible Church alleges the county violated constitutionally guaranteed rights of free speech and religion when the Board of Zoning Appeals decided the land was not properly zoned as a university and nixed the classes.
The sprawling Leesburg Pike church, which boasts a weekend attendance of about 10,000 people, had been offering seminars for graduate-level course credit with the Capital Bible Seminary. The zoning board ruled on June 6 that a special exemption would be needed to continue the classes.
“There are churches all around the country and all around Fairfax County who offer classes like this for credit,” said Denny Harris, director of ministry operations. “It’s been a pretty arbitrary application to single out McLean Bible Church in this way.”
The courses have been offered for about 10 years, Harris said, and involve about 100 people.
Fairfax County is preparing a response to the suit and would not comment on it beyond providing basic details, a spokeswoman said.
In the July 3 filing, the church cites the U.S. Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which protects places of worship from discriminatory zoning, and a number of constitutional amendments.
The church is represented by the American Center for Law and Justice, a law firm founded by Christian televangelist Pat Robertson.
Colby May, the center’s senior counsel and director of the firm’s Washington office, said he hopes the case will establish a precedent that “counties like Fairfax may not use their zoning regulations to prevent churches from having Bible study classes.”
The case will be heard in U.S. District Court in Virginia’s eastern district.
