Church Sues School District After Discriminatory Leasing Process

Murrieta, CA – On Tuesday, a lawsuit was filed by Advocates for Faith and Freedom on behalf of The Pines Church challenging the Hermon School Committee for their inflammatory and discriminatory leasing processes that unfairly scrutinized church activity. The Hermon School Committee in the past has leased their properties to secular organizations and did not scrutinize their beliefs on sensitive religious and political topics.

The Pines Church was unfairly targeted because it was a church, and the Committee did not want to associate with them. Their beliefs in traditional Christian ideologies opened the door for the Hermon School Committee to discriminate against them by inquiring about their beliefs on sensitive cultural issues like gender identity, issues that bear no relationship to whether the church qualified for a lease. Their conduct violates the First Amendment, as well as Maine’s Public Accommodation Laws.

“Public institutions that seek to lease their facilities for revenue should not be able to discriminate based on religious or political conditions,” said Mariah Gondeiro, Legal Counsel and Vice President for Advocates for Faith & Freedom. “The Hermon School Committee has a history of leasing their properties to secular organizations without persecution. We are advocating for fair and equitable treatment under the law, and The Pines Church was denied that opportunity by the Hermon School Committee.”

“We are understandably disappointed with the process in which we had to go through, but we are not discouraged,” said Pastor Matt Gioia. “We have seen the Lord move through our church and grow our community so much since our founding. We are hopeful that we will be able to continue our worship and fellowship without discrimination.”

Advocates for Faith & Freedom is a non-profit law firm dedicated to protecting constitutional and religious liberty in the courts. Our mission is to engage in cases that will uphold our religious liberty and America’s heritage and to educate Americans about our fundamental constitutional rights