Bible Study Permit

Do you need to obtain a permit to hold a Bible study in your home? For awhile it looked like you might have to get a permit to do so in San Diego.

When I heard about this incident, I got Dean Broyles (president of The Western Center for Law & Policy) on my radio program. As the attorney involved in the case, he verified everything that I heard about how Pastor and Mrs. David Jones were treated by San Diego County.

A county worker came to their house and asked Mrs. Jones, “Do you have a regular meeting in your home?” She said, “Yes.” Then she was asked, “Do you say Amen?” Again, she said “Yes.” And she was also asked, “Do you say praise the Lord?” Once again she said, “Yes.”

Apparently that was enough for the county worker who informed her that they must stop holding “religious assemblies” in their home unless they first obtain a Major Use Permit from San Diego County. These permits can cost thousand of dollars. The County worker then made it clear that they could be fined increasing amounts from $100 to $200 to $500 to $1000, “and then it will get ugly.”

When Dean Broyles shared this story on the “Point of View” radio program, two things happened. First, the phone lines lit up. Second, my co-host for the day (Joseph Farah) decided to give the story international exposure on his Internet site, WorldNetDaily. Soon Dean Broyles was doing more interviews than he could handle (from as far away as New Zealand).

When radio listeners and WorldNetDaily readers began to complain to San Diego County, the officials decided not to require the Jones family to obtain a permit to have a weekly Bible study in their home. The San Diego County Counsel and its Chief Administrative Officer issued an apology and rescinded the original citation.

While we can rejoice at the victory, you do have to wonder if the retraction was based more on public pressure rather than on a desire to acknowledge the religious right of a pastor and a handful of people to meet for Bible study. Fortunately, a radio program and an Internet site made the difference, this time. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.