Jesus declared to his disciple Peter that “the gates of hell shall not prevail” against the church.
A congregation in Everett, Washington, is counting on that promise, taking its regular worship service to the shadow of abortion industry giant Planned Parenthood.
The multi-church effort, called the the Church at Planned Parenthood, explains on its website: “The Church at Planned Parenthood is NOT a protest. It’s a worship service at the gates of Hell. The Church at Planned Parenthood is a gathering of Christians for the worship of God and the corporate prayer for repentance of this nation, repentance for the apathetic church and repentance of our blood guiltiness in this abortion holocaust.”
The website says the effort is about “doing more.”
“We’ve got to put legs to our faith.”
It already has drawn opposition from the city, and the American Center for Law and Justice is now monitoring the response.
ACLJ said the church started hold monthly worship near the Planned Parenthood Everett Health Center in April. In June, police confronted members, explaining the city had adopted a new permitting structure that the church would have to follow.
In August, the Everett City Council passed an ordinance titled Interference with a Health Care Facility that enabled the city to prosecute offenses such as “making noise that unreasonably disturbs the peace within the facility.”
The ordinance encompasses any facilities that provide “health care services directly to patients,” ACLJ said.
Police have not yet moved to shut down the worship, “but the organization remains concerned that these recent actions by the city of Everett law enforcement and Everett City Council may signal that the city intends to interfere with the services soon.”
On behalf of the outreach, ACLJ wrote to the city to obtain additional information about the new ordinance.
“We remain determined to protect the rights of TCAPP and others to gather and pray on behalf of the unborn,” ACLJ said.
The website lists 14 pastors who support the effort.