Judge Gives NYC Churches Access To Public Schools

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge has given a tiny evangelical Christian church the right to hold weekend services in a New York City grade school.

An injunction issued Friday by U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska in the ongoing litigation also allows other churches to get permission to use other schools around the city.

The judge found schools’ no-worship policy would cause “irreparable harm” to the Bronx Household of Faith.

City lawyers had argued the church’s use of the school ran afoul of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause, prohibiting governmental endorsement of religion.

A lawyer for Bronx Household says he welcomes the judge’s decision. The city says it will appeal.