Retired Pastor Clive Johnston plans to file an appeal after he was convicted in Northern Ireland for preaching John 3:16 outside the buffer zone of a local hospital. Johnston, 78, was fined $604 and convicted of two charges of “influencing” people on abortion under the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act while standing within 328 feet of Causeway Hospital during an open-air service in 2024, despite his sermon not mentioning abortion, The Christian Post reported. Speaking on the ruling, Johnston says it “sets a deeply troubling precedent” and plans to appeal. “I was not protesting abortion. I was peacefully preaching the Gospel, reading from the Bible, and pointing people to the hope found in Jesus Christ,” he said.
“If this conviction is allowed to stand, it will signal that basic Christian witness and public expressions of faith can be criminalized simply because they take place in the wrong location,” Johnston added.
“That should concern every person who values freedom of religion and freedom of expression, regardless of their views on abortion.” The Christian Institute, which is supporting Johnston’s case, cautioned that the ruling warned that the ruling poses a “serious threat” to freedom of religion and freedom of speech across the U.K. “This case was never about harassment or intimidation — nobody has alleged Clive Johnston engaged in anything close to this form of behavior. It is about whether the state can criminalize the peaceful expression of Christian faith in a public place under abortion buffer zone laws,” said The Christian Institute’s Simon Calvert in a statement.
Source: Pastor Convicted for Preaching John 3:16 Outside Hospital – Milton Quintanilla | Crosswalk.com
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:11
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