Metropolitan Tabernacle Church v. City of Chattanooga
Description: The city of Chattanooga’s COVID-19 stay-at-home order did not originally ban drive-in churches, but Mayor Andrew Berke abruptly announced right before Easter that his order specifically prohibited them.
Lawsuit prompts Chattanooga to end ban on drive-in church services
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The city of Chattanooga has dropped its unconstitutional ban on drive-in church services, prompting Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys representing an area church to voluntarily dismiss a federal lawsuit Wednesday that challenged the ban. The city’s stay-at-home order did not originally ban drive-in churches, but Mayor Andrew Berke abruptly announced right before Easter that his order specifically prohibited them.On April 9, Berke posted a message aimed at churches on the city website and on his official Facebook page regarding the order, stating that “drive-in services…even in their cars with the windows rolled up, for any length of time, will be considered a violation of our shelter-in-place directive.” That forced Metro Tab Church and other area churches to cancel drive-in Easter services and brought about the lawsuit. In the face of the suit, the city reversed its position and agreed to allow drive-in services, which Metro Tab Church and other congregations held for the past two Sundays without any threat of being singled out. Because of that, Metro Tab Church agreed to dismiss its lawsuit.
“Singling out churches for special punishment makes no sense and is very clearly unconstitutional,” said ADF Senior Counsel Ryan Tucker, director of the ADF Center for Christian Ministries. “It never made any sense that, in Chattanooga, you could sit in your car at a drive-in restaurant, but you couldn’t sit in your car at a drive-in church service. We commend the city for changing its policies and respecting the constitutionally protected freedoms of area congregations, which can now participate in alternate versions of worship during this pandemic that are specifically designed to comply with all applicable health and safety recommendations.”
Now that Pastor Steve Ball and Metro Tab Church have been permitted to host drive-in services, the church has been able to safely hold worship services and collect donations for victims of a tornado that recently ravaged the city.
ADF attorneys filed the voluntary dismissal of Metropolitan Tabernacle Church v. City of Chattanooga with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. Nathan Kellum, one of more than 3,100 attorneys allied with ADF, served as local counsel in the case on behalf of the church.
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith.
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ABOUT Ryan Tucker
Ryan Tucker serves as senior counsel and director of the Center for Christian Ministries with Alliance Defending Freedom. He oversees all litigation efforts to maintain and defend the constitutionally protected freedom of churches, Christian ministries and religious schools to exercise their rights under the First Amendment. Prior to joining ADF, Tucker engaged in private practice for over 16 years with a litigation boutique law firm in San Antonio, Texas, eight of those as a partner. His portfolio included all aspects of civil litigation, both state and federal, with a particular focus on commercial and complex business disputes. Tucker earned his Juris Doctor at Baylor Law School, where he was a senior editor of the Baylor Law Review. He obtained his bachelor of business administration in management at Texas A&M University, where he graduated cum laude. A member of the state bar in Texas and Arizona, Tucker is admitted to practice in the U.S. Supreme Court and multiple federal district and appellate courts.