Can a church remove someone who disrupts a worship service? Are there any legal remedies available to block chronic offenders? What limits, if any, exist?

These questions occasionally come up for churches, and let’s be honest: They make us uncomfortable. No one likes the idea of removing someone from church services, much less outright banning them. The very notion sounds antithetical to the gospel.

Yet there are instances when removals and bans may be necessary, notes attorney Richard Hammar in this section of the Legal Library about removing disruptive individuals. Repeated, intentional interruptions are one reason. Threats against a pastor or other church members or personnel are another.

But there are limits to how a church can respond, as demonstrated by a case decided not long ago in Pennsylvania. Find out more in Hammar’s analysis.

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