A lawsuit filed by a church against a South Carolina town last year for prohibiting worship services at a public facility has prompted the municipality to lift the ban.<\/p>\n
Redeemer Fellowship of Edisto Island and the town of Edisto Beach agreed Aug. 19 to end the suit, which alleged the town violated Redeemer Fellowship\u2019s right to free exercise of religion after the municipality banned all rentals for religious worship services at its Edisto Beach Civic Center.<\/p>\n
The Alliance Defending Freedom, which represented the church in the case, commended the town for lifting its ban, which the alliance said was inconsistent with the town\u2019s own statement that it welcomes \u201ccivic, political, business, social groups and others\u201d to use its civic center.<\/p>\n
\u201cChurches shouldn\u2019t be treated less favorably than other groups that want to rent facilities,\u201d said ADF Legal Counsel Christiana Holcomb. \u201cIts previous policy that singled out one form of expression \u2014 worship \u2014 as inferior to other forms of speech was clearly unconstitutional.\u201d<\/p>\n