Liberty Counsel secures emergency motion allowing church to meet

Court of Appeals granted the motion late Friday afternoon

In 1947, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that government MAY NOT prevent people from attending church. Writing for the majority in Everson v. Board of Education, Justice Hugo Black wrote that the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution dictates that:

“Neither a state nor the Federal Government can ... force nor influence a person to go to or to remain away from church against his will or force him to profess a belief or disbelief in any religion.”

Yet that is exactly what happened to the members of Coastal Family Church. An outrageous and unlawful court order prevented this church from meeting and worshipping in its own church building!

Liberty Counsel filed an emergency motion with the District Court of Appeals, which on Friday issued an emergency stay on the lower court ruling.

As of right now, the church is allowed to meet for worship as we continue to appeal the lower court’s outrageous and unlawful ruling.

Help us continue the fight to OVERTURN the church shutdown order!

Our special Challenge Grant will DOUBLE the impact of your gift.

On Sunday, January 25, the church facility should have been filled with worship, prayer, and fellowship. Instead, Coastal Family Church’s congregants were turned away from their own sanctuary — because of a court order issued the prior Friday afternoon prohibiting them from gathering to worship on their own property.

On January 25, under an emergency temporary injunction issued by the state court, Coastal Family Church was forced to cancel in-person services. Church elders stood outside beginning at 9 a.m., sharing the heartbreaking news with every arriving family: “We cannot gather today ... the court has barred us from worship.”

It was a moment no church in America should ever face.

As Coastal’s normal service time approached, a representative from the Flagler Square property management association arrived accompanied by three police vehicles to enforce the injunction. Pastor Roderick Palmer respectfully walked the officers through the building to demonstrate that the church was fully complying.

For 45 minutes, law enforcement remained on site — not because Coastal Family Church posed a threat or broke any law, but because a strip mall property association does not want the congregation to assemble.

The police officers appeared uncomfortable enforcing an order that had shuttered a church.

STOP the Church Shutdown Order!

Why Is This Happening?

Flagler Square – JAX, Inc., the property association, sued the church claiming that its services violate a covenant against “public assembly.”

However, the property association has no problem with the Fraternal Order of Police, which also owns a unit on the property, from hosting bingo nights, public events, and making their hall available for other forms of “public assembly.” This double standard reveals clear religious discrimination.

Despite the city having already approved the church’s zoning special exception, the association pressed forward, and the court sided with them—preventing Coastal Family Church from using their own property for religious purposes.

This injunction represents a “prior restraint” on speech, assembly, and religious exercise—the most serious and least tolerable infringement of First Amendment rights.

EMERGENCY MOTION GRANTED - but the fight is just beginning.

Late in the day on Friday January 30, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals granted a temporary stay on the lower court’s church closure order. 

Coastal Family Church was able to meet for worship again, on Sunday February 1.

But this ruling from the Court of Appeals IS NOT permanent. We must continue to fight appealing the lower court order, and for that we need YOUR help.

Coastal Family Church’s faith is strong. Their church family is strong. But this legal battle will be long, and it will be costly. That is why today we are asking—humbly and urgently—for your support.

Will You Stand with Coastal Family Church Today?

Your gift now is needed to fund:

• Highly skilled legal staff.
• Court fees.
• Legal research and filing fees.
• Testimony.
• Ongoing litigation costs.

Coastal Family Church simply cannot fight this battle alone. Your gift — no matter the amount — helps protect not only Coastal Family Church but also the religious freedom of every congregation in our country. 

Your support ensures that Liberty Counsel and Coastal Family Church can continue standing for biblical truth and for the right to worship freely.

Please consider making a tax-deductible gift of 50, 100, 250, 1,000 dollars or more, and our Challenge Grant will DOUBLE your gift.