Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington won the right to hold outdoor services in the DC area after they challenged Mayor Bowser’s ruling which had resulted in them holding services in a field in Virginia. They argued that the limit of 100 people meeting outdoors had been applied unfairly.
The Mayor’s Executive Order limited the numbers at services ‘even if held outdoors and even if worshippers wear masks and practice appropriate social distancing’.
The church, led by Mark Dever, pictured, had argued that the city had violated the First and Fifth Amendments to the US Constitution and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
In upholding their complaint, the judge said: ‘It is for the church, not the District or this court, to define for itself the meaning of “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together”.’
