Court forbids churchgoers from gathering to worship 

Liberty Counsel represents Coastal Family Church in an outrageous case

Most people think of Florida as a happy vacationland. But what you may fail to understand is that we encounter religious hostility and judicial overreach even in the friendliest places.

In January, a judge north of Daytona issued an injunction banning our client from conducting worship services on its own property. We have filed an emergency appeal in this outrageous case.  

As of this writing, our clients have not been able to meet in their own church building for over FOUR months, not even for Easter!

Liberty Counsel is representing Pastor Robert Palmer and Coastal Family Church of Flagler Beach, Florida, and we have also filed a separate federal lawsuit on behalf of churchgoers who are prohibited from worshipping.

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Discrimination based on religion is banned in the Sunshine State

In the early 20th century, housing covenants in Miami and Coral Gables prevented Jews, blacks, Asians, Latinos, and members of certain religious denominations from owning land in those developments. 

In the state’s most northwestern city, famed trial attorney Fred Levin and his family were barred from joining the Pensacola Country Club in the 1980s or even from buying land adjacent to it because the Levins were Jewish.

In the 1990s, the City of Palm Beach tried to stop Donald Trump from selling houses and opening a private club at his Mar-a-Lago property, in part because he allowed blacks and Jews as members — something no other club in the area did at the time.

In 2005, one of our own staff members was told she could not buy a house in a Jay, Florida, development because area residents did not allow persons from her family’s particular Christian denomination to buy in the area. Giant letters on the town water tower declared, “The KKK Welcomes you to Jay.”

A 2024 award-winning documentary titled Welcome to Jay further documented the racial and religious discrimination that continues in some places. 

As of 2019, at least one Florida HOA was found to still have an active “Caucasian-only” restriction in its governing documents.

In 2020, the Florida legislature passed a law to put a definitive end to the abuses that had lingered for so long. Florida Statute Section 712.065 specifically declares any racial or religious “discriminatory restriction” in a recorded title transaction, Home Owners Association documents, or land covenants to be null, void, and extinguished.

Anti-Christian discrimination is happening NOW.

But Flagler Square JAX property management company either didn’t get the message or chose to ignore it. Pastor Robert Palmer and Coastal Family Church purchased a unit in the strip mall as the church’s new home. 

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But when the church was ready to open for services, the management company demanded the church stop those services. 

Flagler Square – JAX, Inc., the condominium association that oversees the mall’s four units, SUED Pastor Palmer and the church for holding “public assemblies” that allegedly violate a “condominium declaration” that prohibits such assemblies.

The judge ruled churchgoers can meet for secular purposes but not for worship. But when a general meeting becomes a religious meeting is unknown. The ruling is clearly unconstitutional.

The condominium declaration also prohibits strip mall units from being used as discount stores, banquet halls, bingo parlors, or other places of public assembly. However, Flagler Square is home to a consignment store and a Fraternal Order of Police lodge that regularly hosts bingo nights and rents its facility to the public for public assembly. But Flagler Square – JAX isn’t suing or shutting them down.

The association’s ban on religious services is unlawful under both state and federal law. But also, the selective enforcement of only the religious services provision is discriminatory and unconstitutional — and we plan to stop it. 

Anti-Christian discrimination is a cancer that can spread. While our case defending Coastal Family Church might seem like a minor local issue, the increasing attacks on Christians and religious freedom reveal that anti-Christian bias is spreading from coast to coast. We cannot allow these forces to score even one small win against the church.

Liberty Counsel was formed in 1989 to defend religious freedom, the sanctity of human life, and the natural family. We never charge our clients because we understand that few people, or small churches, could afford often-lengthy court battles to defend their religious freedom.

Our clients depend on YOU, the faithful Liberty Counsel supporter, to ensure religious freedom remains FREE for generations to come. Please, support our legal fund today. When you do, a special Challenge Grant will DOUBLE the impact of your gift.