Appeals court rules NYC churches can meet in schools

NEW YORK  — New York churches gained a victory in the courts Feb. 29 as the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a district judge’s injunction against the city’s enforcement of a ban to keep churches from meeting for worship in public schools.

The 2nd Circuit, though, instructed U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska to act quickly on the case, encouraging her to issue a final decision by mid-June so the matter can be resolved before the next school year. While churches can continue to meet in New York City schools at least through the end of this school year, some already have moved on to more reliable space.

One Southern Baptist congregation in the city moved all three of its campuses out of public schools, and another congregation is sharing its rented meeting space with other churches in an effort to support the body of Christ in New York.

The Journey Church has three campuses in New York — an Upper West Side campus in Manhattan, a Village campus in Manhattan and a Queens campus. All three were meeting in public schools before the legal wrangling intensified early this year. Now the Upper West campus is meeting in the Directors Guild of America New York Theater on 57th Street. The Village congregation has temporarily moved to a United Methodist church for an evening service and in Queens, Journey has moved to a United Artists movie theater.