Pastor prosecuted for preaching in NI buffer zone

A retired church minister will be hauled before the courts in Northern Ireland this week after preaching an open air sermon in an abortion "buffer zone".

Clive Johnston spoke to onlookers about God's salvation in Christ, based on the text John 3:16, and did not mention abortion in his remarks.

Johnston, who is also a former president of the Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland, is facing two charges under the NI buffer zones law.

He is accused of seeking to influence people accessing the hospital and for not immediately leaving the area when asked to do so by police.

If convicted, Johnston, a grandfather who has never been in trouble with the police, faces a criminal record and maximum fines totalling 1000s of pounds.

Pastor Johnston is being represented by The Christian Institute's Legal Defence Fund. Simon Calvert, Deputy Director of the Institute, said:

“We have amazing gospel freedom in this country and we encourage Christians to use those freedoms so that more people will hear about the love of God. That’s why we’ve taken on this case. Prosecuting someone for preaching John 3:16 near a hospital on a quiet Sunday is an outrageous restriction on freedom of religion and freedom of speech.

“For the record, this was an open-air service held on a Sunday, with about a dozen people in attendance, on a patch of grass, separated from Causeway Hospital by a dual carriageway. There was a wooden cross, and Clive leading the singing of well-known hymns on a ukelele. Yet the police summons says he ‘conducted a protest’ to try to ‘influence’ patients or staff attending the abortion clinic. This is religiously illiterate.”

Mr Calvert added:

“Speech that has nothing to do with abortion should not be criminalised as if it is an anti-abortion protest. This is fundamentally unjust. If prosecutors succeed in getting a conviction against Clive for preaching about God’s love, what will that mean for other forms of non-abortion-related speech in these zones? Could people outside a hospital protesting health service cutbacks or junior doctors’ pay be prosecuted?”

“The Christian Institute is backing this case because there is a vital principle at stake. If the Gospel can be banned in this public place, where else can it be banned? The authorities do not seem to have thought through the human rights implications of their decision to prosecute.”