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A ministry associated with the United Methodist Church is suing New Jersey officials who threatened to prosecute the ministry for refusing to allow a same-sex civil union ceremony in one of its worship facilities.
The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association of the United Methodist Church filed the federal lawsuit Aug. 11 after a lesbian couple filed a complaint with the state’s civil rights office. The Camp Meeting Association prohibited the lesbians from using its facility for a civil union ceremony.
“Religious groups have the right to make their own decisions without government interference. The government can’t force a private Christian organization to use its property in a way that would violate its own religious beliefs,” said Brian Raum, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, which is representing the Camp Meeting Association.
The ministry argues that civil union ceremonies are specifically prohibited according to the doctrines and beliefs of the United Methodist Church.
Furthermore, the Camp Meeting Association says the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights, which has threatened to prosecute the ministry over the civil union, has violated its First Amendment rights to free speech, freedom of expressive association, and free exercise of religion.
The Camp Meeting Association, which has owned the property since the 1870s, is currently facing an investigation by the state of New Jersey on whether it violated the state’s anti-discrimination law.
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New Jersey has threatened to declare the historic worship facility known as Boardwalk Pavilion as a public place simply because it is located on a boardwalk. The boardwalk and the beach have all been owned by the Camp Meeting Association.
Boardwalk Pavilion and other buildings on the same site have hosted church and worship services for over 100 years. Currently, the facility is used for Sunday worship services, a weekday middle-school and high-school Bible program, a weekly summer band program, evening association meetings, and two to three Gospel music ministry programs each day during the summer season.
