A pastor from Columbia, South Carolina, was brought to a three-day trial and was sentenced to jail on Thursday, on the basis that his church had been violating the city's noise limits.
"I am sorry we don't worship the Lord quietly, and that is everyone's preference how you worship the Lord," said Pastor Johnnie Clark from Rehoboth United Assemblies Church. "We just happen to be a Pentecostal Apostolic church and our praise is very vocal to the Lord."
"I just can't believe it. For serving God? Jail time? What's next?" said Clark's wife, Harriet Clark, to WLTX.
Pastor Clark and the church had allegedly been approached by officials more than 50 times as a result of noise complaints from neighbors around the church. The church has also had to pay multiple fines as a result of the violations.
In June, a judge placed a prohibition on the church, that they may only have worship with amplified sound between 8AM to 8PM.
"They are trying to tell us how not to worship. We have church at 7:30, so what does that mean we only have 30 minutes to worship?" Clark told WTLX.
Additionally, the church has been at Columbia and at that specific location for 20 years, reports say. The residential areas around the church had been built after the church was already established.
According to a report by Rolling Out, Harriet Clark had also been required to pay fines on top of her husband's jail sentence, and was threatened that she herself would be placed in jail for 12 days if the church continues to violate the city's ordinance on the noise levels.
In order to comply to the ordinance, the church must install a sound-proofing system around their walls, but the church members expressed that the cost to install such a system is too expensive for them to afford.
