DOJ sides with church suing the city of San Luis over closed food ministry
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — The U.S. Department of Justice supports the Gethsemani Baptist Church, which is suing the city of San Luis for shutting down the religious organization’s food program.
The church has run a food ministry for the community for nearly 25 years, serving free meals and handing out food to more than 200 families at their weekly food drives.
It stopped when the city issued a citation against the church, saying they couldn’t use commercial trucks in a residential neighborhood to transport supplies.
The church has now filed a federal lawsuit against San Luis.
“We were able to talk to the city and agree that during the pendency of this litigation he’s able to carry on his ministry but gravely reduced to what it was before,” said Jeremy Dys, First Liberty Attorney, who represents the church and its pastor, Manuel Castro,
They’re now hoping to get the food ministry back up and running soon.
The U.S. Department of Justice recently filed a statement of interest in favor of the church.
In a statement, the DOJ said, “churches have been on the front lines answering the hunger needs for their less fortunate neighbors” and cited the protection under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.
Arizona’s Family reached out to the city of San Luis but denied comment pending ongoing litigation.
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