Come on, ring those bells

Bishop Rick Painter, sentenced for allowing church bells to ring

A federal judge has concluded a Phoenix noise ordinance that allows exemptions for ice cream trucks but not church bells – one pastor already has been convicted and given a 10-day suspended jail sentence – likely is not constitutional.

The ruling signed yesterday by U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton means the city cannot enforce the ordinance under which Bishop Rick Painter of Christ the King Liturgical Charismatic Church was convicted until a lawsuit is resolved.

Painter was sentenced to the suspended jail term plus several years of probation.

The judge said the ordinance has "no objective" standard, such as a decibel level, but condemns "loud, disturbing and unnecessary" noise. The law, she said, includes a "scattershot" list of exemptions that include government vehicles, night street work and ice cream trucks.

The churches' challenge to the ordinance on constitutional grounds, therefore, likely will succeed, she wrote, in rejecting the city's attempt to have the case dismissed.

"The court has concluded that plaintiffs demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits of their facial challenge to the noise ordinance for violation of their free speech rights as guaranteed by the First Amendment," the judge said. "The court finds that, given the strong protections for First Amendment rights, the plaintiffs' likelihood of irreparable harm outweighs the city's."

The judge dismissed First Christian Church as a plaintiff, since the church no longer rings bells. But the claims based on the ministries of Painter's church as well as St. Mark Roman Catholic Parish will continue.

"We are pleased that the federal court has recognized the unconstitutional nature of this vague law used to single out churches, and we commend its decision to keep the city from enforcing this problematic noise ordinance while the lawsuit continues," said Alliance Defense Fund Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley.

Painter was cited under the ordinance even after his church attempted to find a compromise with the few local residents who complained about the bells. The sound was measured at some 67 decibels at the church's property line, which is about the volume of a typical conversation.

City officials later notified St. Mark's officials the sound of their bells could be considered a violation, even though they have been ringing in the city for 20 years.

The churches then sued so they could continue to share their religious messages through bell-ringing without fear of future prosecution.

The bells at Painter's church normally chimed every hour from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., but he was taken to task over them even though the city lets ice cream trucks belt out 70 decibels at a distance of 50 feet.

Also pending is an appeal of the criminal conviction against Painter. Stanley, who delivered oral arguments in both cases several weeks ago, told WND at the time, "This is a huge leap. We are not aware of any historical precedent where someone has been criminally convicted for peacefully exercising his religion. He never should have been convicted for peacefully ringing his church bells."

The lawsuit states, "Ringing bells is inextricably intertwined in the life of St. Mark. Ringing bells is an expression of the sentiment of the people of St. Mark and thus cannot be silenced without silencing the voice of the entire people of the church community."

The judge wondered about the neutrality of the restrictions since the city's ban specifically states that ice cream trucks only can play "pleasing melodies."

"The noise ordinance at issue here contains exemptions that require
the enforcing party to examine the expressive conduct to determine whether it falls within … the scope of the law. For instance, to decide whether a public
address is noncommercial, the listener must review the content of the speech. The
so-called 'ice cream truck exemption,' also requires the enforcing party to listen
to the content of the sound to determine whether it is a 'pleasing melody,'" the court said.

"To enforce the city's noise ordinance, an officer needs
to apply subjective standards (e.g., is a melody pleasing or not?) and listen carefully to the
sound (e.g., is this a commercial address or not?). On account of the character of these
exemptions, the court finds that the noise ordinance is content-based," she wrote.

The ADF explained that the outcome of the two cases "will determine whether city officials will be allowed to enforce the unconstitutionally vague noise ordinance that punishes churches for engaging in religious expression that has been traditionally practiced by the church for centuries."

WND reported just weeks ago on a series of attacks on Christian churches based on noise ordinances.

All Nations church, silenced by neighbors' complaints about 'noise'

The Christian Legal Centre in the U.K. reported a "last-minute out of court settlement" that will allow a 600-member church in London to continue its worship.

The Lambeth Council previously had issued a noise abatement notice to the All Nations Centre in Kennington which prevented the church from using any amplification for its worship music and its pastor's preaching.

No allowance was made for any of the seniors in the congregation, some of whom have hearing difficulties, officials said.

The noise abatement order was issued last fall without warning or discussion, shortly after the church, which has been in the same location for more than 45 years, began to publicize its services in its own neighborhood.

Onn Sein Kon, case manager at the Christian Legal Centre, said the organization has noticed an increasing number of attacks on churches because someone can hear Christian worship.

"Regrettably, our case load is increasing with councils issuing noise abatement notices as a means of curtailing or closing churches in London," Kon said."What is really going on here is action by secularists to try and restrict Christian freedom and expression in this country."

Andrea Williams, the director of the legal organization, said the real motivation behind such attacks is "hostility to the Christian message."

"The law is being used as a pretext to harass and silence Christian viewpoints not approved by the state," Williams said. "All Nations Church is simply trying to make Christianity relevant to 21st century Britain and it will be a great loss if the church, which is a great benefit to the community, has to curtail its activities and outreach programs."

"The complaint has nothing to do with the noise and everything to do with our faith," said the senior pastor, Abraham Sackey.

The church, with the help of the Christian Legal Centre, fought the order.

"The church believes that the council's withdrawal is an attempt to conceal what happened and which has been ongoing for some time, not only in Lambeth but nationally. The leaders of the church maintained from the very outset that the notice had nothing to do with noise," Sackey said.

The legal organization said another church, Immanuel House of Worship in London, also has been "silenced" by the government because the sound of its worship drew a complaint from a single Muslim neighbor.

That's despite the fact the neighbor is living in what used to be a church house adjacent to the church itself.

The church in Walthamstow was targeted by a noise abatement order even though local government officials had tested – and approved – its sound mitigation plan.

Ade Ajike, a church trustee, reported that after a visit from a government environmental health officer, the officer warned, "the church had to keep the noise down so as not to offend the Muslims living in the area."

"He told us 'this is a Muslim borough, you have to tread carefully,'" Ajike reported about the 2009 dispute.

The church has since reduced its Sunday worship from four hours to two hours and 30 minutes, of which music is played for only about 45 minutes. Midweek services were changed so that no music was used, and Sunday evening services were reduced to one a month.

The church further eliminated the use of percussion from its worship.

The Christian organization called Barnabas Aid also is reporting similar tactics are appearing in Africa.

"The government of Senegal has recently launched a campaign to close down a number of churches, on the grounds that their services are too noisy. Congregations that do not own their own premises are being targeted. Several have had their public worship suspended, and others are under threat," the ministry report said.

It reported in Dakar, three churches were closed and some musical instruments were confiscated. In one church the police threatened leaders with arrest if they did not stop holding services of worship and prayer in their sanctuary, the organization reported, because a Muslim neighbor, "unhappy at having Christians worshipping next door to her home," complained to the mayor's office that the church was making too much noise.