TOWN BANS SMALL CHURCHES?
A Pentecostal church in Brighton Township, Pennsylvania, is suing local officials for denying the congregation the right to build on its property. Beaver Assembly of God filed a federal lawsuit against the township after being prohibited from developing its 3.2 acres site because it does not meet the community's five acre minimum lot size for "places of worship."

If the story in the Charisma News article is accurate the church will be able to buy at least five acres with the settlement they receive when this whole thing is over. However, there are definitely pieces of the story missing. Frankly, it seems too unlikely that in this day and age any town is going to try and restrict the size of a church -- especially a small one! According to minutes from the Brighton Township Board of Supervisors there was a public hearing on Monday, January 13th to consider the church's use permit. But the next actual meeting of the board isn't until February. It looks to me like the town's machinery is still in process on this. If so, it's possible that the church has filed a suit to pressure the town to act expeditiously.