This faithful pastor and his church members have been attending public events for many years to share the Gospel.  At these outdoor events in the public parks, members distribute flyers that include a schedule of events with a clear Gospel message and an invitation to their church on the back.  Their handouts always include a disclaimer that the flyer is provided by their church and is not an official program. Church members have found this to be a very effective way of presenting the Gospel to thousands of people over the years.

This year, for his city's Fourth of July picnic in the park, the pastor prepared a flyer with the schedule of songs to be played in the outdoor concert by the local orchestra and the names of special guest performers to appear at the public program. He prepared the witnessing flyer as he had done many times before. The flyer also included patriotic statements about America's Founding Fathers and the Christian influence they had on our nation.

While the pastor was at the concert in the public park passing out the flyers, he was approached by a city police officer who ordered him to stop his activities and turn over the flyers. When the pastor refused, he was put in hand cuffs and forced to sit on the curb, in plain view of thousands of people, for thirty minutes! The pastor was then charged with disorderly conduct and spent the evening in jail!

When attorneys from the Christian Law Association were contacted for assistance, we immediately set out to defend this pastor and prevent any further injustice.  A preliminary hearing was scheduled for this week, and the pastor had been offered a deal to plead to a lesser charge and pay a fine for his soul winning activities.  Since the pastor has a constitutional right to engage in his distribution activities in the park, CLA attorneys contacted the local prosecutor and insisted that all charges against the pastor dropped.  Thankfully, the prosecutors took another view of their case against the pastor, and have now dropped all charges outright!

The pastor's legal nightmare is over, and we and his church are praising the Lord for this good outcome.  Despite the legal difficulties he encountered at the Fourth of July "freedom celebration" event, Pastor and his church members were able to pass out approximately 22,000 Gospel flyers without incident at a second local event later in the summer!

CLA is committed to keeping America free for the Gospel message.  In America, we are not required to keep the Gospel inside the walls of our churches but have a constitutional right to take the Gospel message to the streets.

For more information on your legal right to witness, check out our publication, Witnessing in Modern America, available to order on our website.