Sovereign Grace City Church in Brooklyn used to meet for worship every Sunday at P.S. 282, a public school that charged an affordable rent of $1,084 per month for Sunday morning access. But lately Sovereign Grace has changed worship locations nearly every week. The moves were not random: They were a result of a decision by the city to ban religious organizations from renting public school buildings for worship services (see "The battle of New York," Jan. 28).
The ban went into effect on Feb. 12, but an injunction from U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska allowed churches to continue meeting at public schools until June 19. The churches might lose that access again unless New York state House Speaker Sheldon Silver brings a bill to the House floor for a vote before the June 19 deadline. Bill 8800 currently has 74 bipartisan cosponsors out of a possible 146 members.
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