Cases have cropped up in recent months both in the U.K. as well as the United States in which governmental bodies have demanded that Christian groups essentially be silent – so that no one can hear their worship.

The Christian Legal Center in the U.K. is reporting a victory in a battle, although the war remains.
The group said this week there has been a "last-minute out of court settlement" that will allow a 600-member church in London to continue its worship.

The Lambeth Council previously had issued a noise abatement notice to the All Nations Centre in Kennington which prevented the church from using any amplification for its worship music, and its pastor's preaching.

No allowance was made for any of the seniors in the congregation, some of whom have hearing difficulties, officials said.

Last fall, shortly after the church, which has been in the same location for more than 45 years, began to make its services public in its own neighborhood, the noise abatement order was issued. It was without warning or discussion.

Onn Sein Kon, case manager at the Christian Legal Centre, said the organization has noticed an increasing number of attacks on churches because someone can hear the worship.

"Regrettably, our case load is increasing with councils issuing noise abatement notices as a means of curtailing or closing churches in London," Kon said. "Success in this case sends out a clear message that this method will not work. These churches are vibrant and growing and play a critical part in their communities."

"What is really going on here is action by secularists to try and restrict Christian freedom and expression in this country. We will do all we can at the Christian Legal Centre to oppose such discrimination," Kon said.

Andrea Williams, the director of the legal organization, said the real motivation behind such attacks is "hostility to the Christian message."

"The law is being used as a pretext to harass and silence Christian viewpoints not approved by the state," Williams said. "All Nations Church is simply trying to make Christianity relevant to 21st century Britain and it will be a great loss if the church, which is a great benefit to the community, has to curtail its activities and outreach programs."

"The complaint has nothing to do with the noise and everything to do with our faith," said the senior pastor, Abraham Sackey.

The church, with the help of the Christian Legal Centre, fought the order then said the damage already was done, even though the council suddenly withdrew the order.

"The church believes that the council's withdrawal is an attempt to conceal what happened and which has been ongoing for some time, not only in Lambeth but nationally. The leaders of the church maintained from the very outset that the notice had nothing to do with noise," Sackey said.

The legal organization said another church, Immanuel House of Worship in London, also has been "silenced" by the government because the sound of its worship drew a complaint from a single Muslim neighbor.

That's despite the fact the neighbor is living in what used to be a church house adjacent to the church

"Churches shouldn't be punished for exercising their faith publicly," said ADF Senior Legal Council Erik Stanley. "The law is unconstitutionally vague and has been abused to silence a form of worship that has peacefully sounded through the streets of our nation since its founding.

"No one should be sentenced to jail and probation for doing what churches have traditionally done throughout history, especially when the sound of the church's bells does not exceed the noise level that the law allows for ice cream trucks," he said.

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