Key point 7-17. Churches do not have to tolerate persons who disrupt religious services. Church leaders can ask a court to issue an order barring the disruptive person from the church's premises. If the person violates the order, he or she may be removed from church premises by the police, and may be found to be in contempt of court.
Does a church have the legal authority to remove disruptive individuals from church services?
This issue has been addressed by a number of courts. Generally, the courts have been sympathetic to attempts by churches to deny access to disruptive individuals. To illustrate, a Connecticut court agreed that a church could bar a disruptive individual from entering onto church premises.[229] State v. Steinmann, 569 A.2d 557 (Conn. App. 1990). It noted that "there was ample evidence that the defendant entered church property, on the three occasions charged, as a knowing ...
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