Tag: New York City
Churches Meeting in Public Schools: A Wise (and Legal) Decision
Posted on May 9, 2014 in Public Policy, Religious Freedom by Nathan Cherry
Did you know that churches and schools used to meet in the same buildings?
Today some will claim such use of “government property” as unconstitutional, citing the non-existent “separation of church and state” clause that does NOT appear anywhere in the Constitution or Bill of Rights. Despite their efforts the fact remains that churches and schools have historically sought to work together to share space in a mutually beneficial way.
Erik Stanley, writing at the Speak Up Movement blog makes this point clear:
“In the pioneer era, it was commonplace for church worship services to be held in public school buildings and for public schools to be held in church buildings. Indeed, it makes a great deal of sense for churches and schools to occupy the same physical space given that churches generally operate at times when schools are not in session and vice versa.”
Yes, it does make sense for churches and schools to meet in the same location, especially when the mutual benefits are considered.
New York City Says Churches Can’t Use Public Schools
Posted on April 11, 2014 in Religious Freedom by Nathan Cherry
The case of the Bronx Household of Faith is a storied one that has spanned decades. It began when the New York City Board of Education changed a city policy forbidding churches to rent public schools for church services. Other organizations may rent public schools, only churches were barred from using them. The Bronx Household of Faith sued the city for unfairly targeting the free exercise of religion.
In 2012 a lower court granted a full injunction which barred the city policy from taking effect, this allowed the churches to continue meeting in schools pending the ruling by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. The 2nd Circuit reversed the lower court ruling last week and allowed the city policy to take effect. Without intervention by the full 2nd Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court churches in New York City will now be homeless.
The good news is that newly elected mayor Bill de Blasio has said he supports allowing churches to meet in schools like everyone else. In fact he made such statements more than once during his campaign. After the ruling Mayor de Blasio was quoted as saying: