Menu

Church appeals ban on street preaching after passerby told ‘he was going to hell’
📰
0

Church appeals ban on street preaching after passerby told ‘he was going to hell’

The Independent·Sam Russell·about 1 month ago
#tGVgxNkM
Reading 0:00
15s threshold

An evangelical church in Colchester, Essex, is challenging a ban on its street preaching loudspeakers and an order preventing "intimidating behaviour" after members reportedly told passers-by they were destined for hell. The Bread of Life Community Church is appealing the Community Protection Notice (CPN), issued in March by the Safer Colchester Partnership, which operates under Colchester City Council. Breaching such an order constitutes a criminal offence. Michael Phillips, for appellants Bread of Life Community Church, told a hearing at Colchester Magistrates’ Court on Friday that the CPN “imposed a number of requirements”. He said these included “to stop using amplification or loudspeaker” and to “stop intimidating behaviour”. He said he believed this was the “first attempt by a local authority to control the speech” of a group. “This was preaching which took place in public as it has done for millennia,” he said.…

Continue reading — create a free account

Join HashtagPLUS to read full articles, follow hashtags, vote, and join the conversation.

Read More