Phoenix | An Illinois Southern Baptist church was featured prominently in the report from the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) to the Southern Baptist Convention.
ERLC President Russell Moore interviewed Chicago pastor Nathan Carter about a lawsuit involving his church, Immanuel Baptist, and the City of Chicago. Moore described the case as “not just about this one congregation. That case is about our children, and grandchildren, and our mission field.”
The lawsuit was filed because the City of Chicago has tried to block the purchase of the building where the church has met since 2011 due to a zoning ordinance that requires religious assemblies to have a certain number of parking spaces based on the number of people they seat. Immanuel needs 19 spaces to comply, but utilizes street parking as other businesses in the area do. Immanuel is arguing the ordinance violates the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) by requiring stricter standards of religious assemblies than for other organizations.
Carter told Moore, “We’ve exhausted all our options, except for this last one… Sometimes you have to do the things you don’t want to do, to get to the things you want to do.
“We’re here to serve the city. We don’t want to be known as that angry church that’s trying to look out for itself… We want to be known as that church that loves its neighborhood so much that we want to be a permanent part of it.”
Moore led messengers in prayer for Carter and Immanuel Baptist. Adron Robinson, pastor, Country Club Hills Baptist Church in Hillcrest, was in the room and reached out in prayer for his fellow Illinois church (see photo).
A federal judge has given the City of Chicago a one-month extension—until July 14—to respond to the church’s lawsuit.
-By Eric Reed in Phoenix, Lisa Sergent, Leah Honnen, and designer Kris Kell in Springfield, and our colleagues at Baptist Press.