In a zoning Catch-22, a small Christian congregation in Bedford, New Hampshire, is being told by local officials that because it got permission to add a meeting hall to a house it uses for church services, it has to stop using that house to host church services.

The church is now suing Bedford, arguing that municipal authorities are restricting its gatherings solely because of their religious nature.

"A determination that religious use is different and [that] you can't have people gather in a living room if its purpose is religious is clear overreach," says Michael Tierney, an attorney representing Bedford's New Hope Christian Fellowship. "It's unconscionable."

In March 2020, the New Hope Christian Fellowship purchased a 2,500-square-foot, three-bedroom home on a rural property along a state highway in Bedford. The plan had always been to use the building to host Sunday services, prayer meetings, and other church activities the congregation couldn't do at their prior meeting place—a martial arts studio.

After a pandemic-induced pause on in-person services, New Hope started hosting Sunday services in the home's living room. Their complaint states that there were never more than 20 people in attendance.

Hoping to grow their small congregation, the church also received approval from Bedford's Planning Board in October 2020 for a project that would convert and expand an existing garage on the property to be a new meeting hall and add a parking lot.