LAKE WORTH, Fla. — A south Florida church has received notice from local officials that it must obtain a business license or shut down, even though federal and local laws exempt churches from obtaining such licenses.
Common Ground Church, Lake Worth, Fla., which has been threatened by city officials, held a prayer rally for local government on the City Hall steps March 3.
“That’s a violation of the First Amendment, but number two, it’s a violation of their own code,” Liberty Counsel chairman and founder Mat Staver said. “Churches [in Lake Worth] are not required to get business licenses.”
Common Ground was told by Lake Worth city officials it would have to cease its activities and pay up to $500 per day in fines if it did not obtain a business license by March 2, Staver said. Since that time the city has opted not to enforce its demand, saying instead that the church which meets in a coffee bar owned by the pastor must obtain only a “use license” that regulates the number of people permitted to gather.
The city still claims Common Ground technically needs a business license, Staver said.
Pastor Mike Olive called the city’s treatment of the congregation “a war on Jesus.”
“I really believe this is about Jesus and the message of light.”
(BP)
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