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
More than 1 million people enrolled in Obamacare plans do not have Social Security numbers on file, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced alongside Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, warning that the discovery points to major weaknesses in federal program oversight.
The Texas State Board of Education has approved a new required reading list that will place selected Bible passages before millions of public school students, marking one of the most significant moves in decades to restore biblical literacy to American classrooms.
he Supreme Court on Monday handed President Donald Trump a major victory on executive authority, ruling that he may fire senior officials at powerful regulatory agencies over policy differences, while also preserving procedural limits in a separate case involving the Federal Reserve.
Political uncertainty remained Monday in Serbia after Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced he would resign within weeks and call early presidential and parliamentary elections following 18 months of student-led anti-government protests.
The Israeli government has unanimously approved a proposal to recognize the mass killing of Armenian Christians by the Ottoman Empire during World War I as genocide, a historic step that acknowledges one of the darkest chapters of Christian suffering in the modern Middle East.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that states may count mail-in ballots received after Election Day, so long as they were sent on or before Election Day, handing a major defeat to the Republican National Committee and President Donald Trump’s administration in a closely watched election-law battle.
Residents of Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, awoke Monday to a fresh aftershock as rescuers raced to find survivors four days after twin earthquakes devastated parts of the country, killing nearly 1,500 people and injuring more than 3,000.