Clive Johnston, a 78-year-old retired pastor has been convicted and fined nearly $700.00 for preaching a gospel sermon near a hospital in Northern Ireland.
On May 7, Judge Peter King convicted Pastor Clive Johnston of breaching a “safe access zone” outside Causeway Hospital in Coleraine in July, 2024. This is the same law that led to the arrest of a woman for silently praying, in her mind, near an abortion clinic. The cases differ in that Causeway Hospital is not an abortion clinic but a full service hospital.
Pastor Johnston’s sermon did not mention abortion, but prominently mentioned John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
The interpretation of the “safe spaces” adopted by the Crown Prosecution Service in this case, “effectively redefines peaceful Christian witness as a form of unlawful ‘influence’,” Johnston told Fox News Digital. “If simply reading the Bible, praying, and preaching on God’s love can now be considered harmful because someone might overhear it within a certain area, then we have crossed a very serious line.”
“John 3:16 is one of the most well-known and hope-filled verses in the Bible – a message about God’s love and salvation. If even that can be criminalized because of where it is spoken, then how can any public expression of Christian belief be truly safe from restriction?" he asked.
Simon Calvert, deputy director of the Christian Institute, said Johnston’s prosecution sets a troubling new precedent. “Should a law designed to stop abortion protests be used to criminalize gospel preaching? John 3:16 is a wonderful, famous verse and everyone knows it says nothing about abortion," he said in a press release.
Prosecuting Pastor Johnston for preaching ‘God so loved the world’ near a hospital on a quiet Sunday is a shocking new attempt to restrict freedom of religion and freedom of speech in a part of the world where open-air gospel services are a part of the culture."
A spokesman for the U.S. Department of State noted, “The United States is still monitoring many 'buffer zone' cases in the U.K., as well as other acts of censorship across Europe.” Referring to cases of Christians being prosecuted for praying silently, the spokesman added, “The U.K.’s persecution of silent prayer represents not only an egregious violation of the fundamental right to free speech and religious liberty, but also a concerning departure from the shared values that ought to underpin U.S.-U.K. relations.”
“The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.” 2 Sam. 23:3