by Stefan Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent
LOS ANGELES, USA (Worthy News) – Authorities in the most populous county of the United States have banned meetings of Church on the Beach, which had been holding public beach services for nearly two decades.
The decision by Los Angeles County has been challenged by the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ). “For 18 years, Church on the Beach has been faithfully serving its community by holding worship services on Redondo Beach with proper permits from Los Angeles County,” the advocacy group said in a statement obtained by Worthy News on Tuesday.
“Approximately 120 people gather every Sunday morning to worship in God’s creation, with many attendees specifically choosing this setting because they have had difficult or negative experiences in traditional church buildings,” the ACLJ added.
The group said its legal team sent a detailed demand letter to officials, outlining the “constitutional violations” of singling out one organization because of its viewpoint and discriminating against members.
“Our letter made it clear that the county’s actions violate well-established First Amendment principles as articulated by the Supreme Court in cases like Widmar v. Vincent and Lamb’s Chapel.”
The ACLJ warned that it had given Los Angeles County “until March 20, 2025, to provide assurances that this discriminatory policy will be ended and that churches will be free to use the beach under the same generally applicable rules as nonreligious gatherings.”
NO PERMITS
Yet the Department of Beaches and Harbors recently told the Church on the Beach that it would no longer issue yearly permits for “religious activities,” Worthy News learned.
Instead, the county reportedly announced that “grandfathered” groups would be allowed only six annual events, with $250 permit fees required for four.
It also is restricting the meetings to specific locations.
“The key fact: None of these rules apply to nonreligious groups. Even more concerning, a county official told the pastor that churches ‘don’t need the beach’ because they can ‘meet in a building’ – a statement that demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of both religious freedom and the specific ministry of Church on the Beach,” the ACLJ complained.
The Church on the Beach views its mission as reaching at least some of the county’s nearly 9.7 million people with the Gospel who may otherwise not attend worship services.
The ACLJ added that the “beach location isn’t merely a preference – it’s a crucial component of their ministry’s outreach to those who might never step foot in a conventional church.”
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
Islamic “terrorist groups” have stepped up “their rampage of death and destruction” across the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) over the past year while “increasingly targeting children” from Christian communities “to use them as weapons for war and abuse,” according to new findings by a Christian advocacy group.
by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief DAVOS, SWITZERLAND (Worthy News) – German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has effectively called the European Union a failure and said radical reforms are needed to save the 27-nation bloc amid significant global challenges. Merz, leading Europe’s largest economy, told the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, that Germany and the EU have “wasted incredible potential” while the United States is increasingly setting the tone for a new world order. The chancellor, a member of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), said Europe has stifled growth by curtailing freedom and personal responsibility … Read more
Ukraine, Russia, and the United States are holding three-way talks in Abu Dhabi in what is the first time the three countries have sat down together since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The meeting comes after U.S. President Donald J. Trump raised fresh hopes that he could help bring the armed conflict to an end soon.
A British nurse who faced possible dismissal for using male pronouns in reference to a transgender prisoner claiming to be a woman has been reinstated, Worthy News learned Friday.
Indonesian rescuers have found the bodies of all 10 passengers from a fishery surveillance plane that crashed in the country’s South Sulawesi province over the weekend, officials confirmed Friday.
Arab political parties in Israel announced Thursday a preliminary agreement to revive the Joint List, signaling renewed efforts for unified Arab political representation ahead of upcoming elections.
Emboldened by the U.S.-backed removal of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, the Trump administration is quietly searching for Cuban government insiders willing to cut a deal that could end Communist rule on the island by year’s end, according to a Wall Street Journal exclusive.