Christians stand up and take down a proposed ban on street preaching in the U.K.

A local council in the U.K. sought an injunction that would have banned public prayer and street preaching, but following a meeting with local religious leaders, the council has now withdrawn the request.

In response to complaints about street preachers in the towns of Aldershot and Farnborough, the Rushmoor Borough Council initiated legal proceedings earlier this year seeking a broad injunction that opponents said would have banned the Christian faith.

Some of the actions that would have been prohibited under the injunction include:

• “Praying, whether with outstretched arms or otherwise, for anyone visiting, working or living within the Town Centres of Aldershot and Farnborough…without their prior permission.”
• “Offering up or personally handing to anyone visiting, working or living within the Town Centres of Aldershot and Farnborough…any leaflet, letter or poster or other written material.”
• “Touching anyone visiting, working or living within the town centres of Aldershot and Farnborough…for the avoidance of doubt this includes the laying of hands on anyone in prayer.”
• “‘Approaching anyone who is not themselves street preaching for the purpose of engaging them with discussion about religion or belief.”
• Engaging “in street preaching which is hostile towards anyone with the protected characteristic of age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation.”

Some of the complaints given by the council included a homosexual person with a transgender child who thought the street preachers would cause a “non-inclusive environment for certain members of the community.”

Christian Legal Centre, which gave legal support to opponents of the injunction, said that despite the claim that the preachers were starting confrontations, hecklers holding a sign saying, “Jesus Hates Gay People” initiated a conversation with the street preachers. The person holding that sign said the preachers create “a non-inclusive environment.”

Other complaints included people saying it “ruins their day” when “they are judged.”

Sally McGuiness, who has been street preaching for 15 years without any issues, said most of the complaints centered around a young man who had recently become a Christian but has since been mentored by older Christians and has changed his preaching style. She says since then, there have been no complaints about his preaching.

The request for an injunction shocked local preachers.

Jamie Broadey stated, “When I first saw the application, I thought that they must have made a mistake. I felt complete unbelief that it was saying that you can’t have religious discussions, you can’t pray or sing, and people have to come to you, you can’t go to them and share the Gospel which Christians have done freely in this country for centuries.”

But following opposition from local churches and Conservatives Councilors, the Rushmoor Borough Council met with religious leaders, including the local vicar, an Army chaplain, and pastors, and heard their concerns about the wide stipulations of the injunction.

Following the meeting the council halted plans to pursue an injunction. The council says that the request was “not intended to stop peaceful groups (of all faiths) from preaching or to restrict freedom of speech, but was intended to address aggressive and antisocial behaviors being experienced by some town center users and businesses.”

In a press release, the council stated,

“Community leaders recognized that the council was aiming to tackle a legitimate anti-social behavior issue but believed that the injunction was too broad in the scope of activities that were targeted and the range of people who could be affected. As a result of these discussions, concerned faith leaders agreed to work with the council to help eradicate anti-social behavior relating to ‘aggressive’ street preaching and to discuss drawing up a voluntary code of conduct. The council will still address complaints as they arise and may pursue targeted legal action against individuals in the future, if considered necessary.”

The leader of the Conservative group on the council, Gareth Lyon, was “delighted” by the choice to withdraw the request for an injunction, saying it was “absolutely the right decision.”

“When Councillor Adeola and I were first contacted by local Christians concerned at how far reaching the application was, we shared those concerns and raised them with the council. That’s why we proposed the engagement with the Christian community, which has proved so fruitful. This is a great outcome,” he remarked.

“The positive engagement from local churches and Christian groups which the council has listened to, will reassure people that Rushmoor is a place where freedom of speech and conscience is valued and where partnership works.”

Broady was happy with the decision but argued, “it is highly concerning that they made this attempt to criminalize the Christian faith in the first instance.”

He detailed,

“I thought that someone at the council, who must very anti-Christian, has produced this or it must be pure incompetence. But then we found out that the council has been working on this for two years and instructed a barrister to help them! They put notices about the injunction across the area and many people within the council must have approved this and used significant amounts of taxpayer money to do so.”

While the preachers claim the council was seeking to silence evangelism, they say the action has actually served to unify local Christians.

There is much that could be said about this story, but the primary takeaway is that when Christians engage in civic action, they can make a difference. If preachers and churches had not been paying attention to what their council was proposing or had refused to make their voices heard, public preaching and prayer would have been banned in their towns.

By keeping up with their local council and intelligently expressing their concerns they were able to get a meeting with the council and explain the problems with the injunction. The council listened to their concerns and withdrew the request. That is how governance is supposed to work.

While one could certainly criticize the council for the request, they should be thoroughly praised for meeting with the pastors and then withdrawing the request. Sadly, many governments in the West are wholly beholden to anti-Christian groups and seek to ban dissent from secular orthodoxy.

The Rushmoor Borough Council decided to go in a different direction. Rather than continuing into a legal battle to force Christians to comply, they engaged in dialogue and found a solution that both sides could be happy with. Bravo to the council! However, in the future they should be sure to honor the rights to freedom of speech and freedom of religion which will sometimes offend others.

For Christians and church leaders in the United States, this story is both a cautionary tale and a call to action. In seeking to be good stewards of the society our children will one day inherit, we must pay attention to political issues and policy and get involved locally and at the state and federal level. Your voice and the power of God answering prayers are needed to help reverse our cultural decay and ensure that today’s generation and future ones will continue to have the right to worship and share the Gospel.

If you like this article and other content that helps you apply a biblical worldview to today’s politics and culture, consider making a donation here.