Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. | Wikimedia Commons/Farragutful A federal judge quoted Hebrews 10:25 as he ruled against Mayor Muriel Bowser’s restriction on outdoor church services of more than 100 people, allowing Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., to resume in-person outdoor services. “It is for the church, not the District or this court, to define for itself the meaning of ‘not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together,’” Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee, wrote, quoting the New Testament’s Epistle to the Hebrews, according to The Washington Times . “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching,” reads the verse. In late September, the church had filed a complaint in federal court, arguing that the city had violated the First and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. “For CHBC, a weekly in-person worship gathering of the entire congregation is a religious conviction for which there is no substitute,” the church, led by 9Marks co-founder, Pastor Mark Dever, stated in its complaint . “The Church does not offer virtual worship services, […]
