Left image: The Christian Institute
A Baptist pastor is due to appear in court this week after he delivered a sermon on God’s love inside a buffer zone in Northern Ireland.
Clive Johnston, 76, reportedly delivered the sermon near an abortion facility in Coleraine. The pastor, who is former president of the Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland, based his homily on the Bible verse John 3:16, which reads:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Pastor Johnson was subsequently charged for allegedly attempting to “influence” women accessing the abortion facility and refusing to leave the buffer zone when requested by the police. He is set to appear in court on Friday.
The event in question, which was attended by around a dozen people who also sang hymns, occurred last year on 7 July. There was no mention of abortion during the service or the pastor’s sermon.
Buffer zones of 100-150m were imposed in Northern Ireland in 2022 and outlawed all pro-life activity.
A Christian woman named Claire Brennan was recently found guilty of breaching a buffer zone in Northern Ireland. She was fined £750 for kneeling in prayer and refusing to leave on request.
“They [the government] have made a law that prohibits my right to worship, to speak the gospel to these women, to speak truth to them that their baby is a precious gift from God”, Brennan said later.
In England, Adam Smith-Connor is set to appeal his conviction for praying silently for his dead son outside an abortion facility in Bournemouth. He was found guilty last year.
Smith-Connor’s case was cited by Vice President JD Vance during a speech at the Munich Security Conference in February.
“I wish I could say that this was a fluke, a one-off, crazy example of a badly written law being enacted against a single person”, Vance said. “But no… The backslide away from conscience rights has placed the basic liberties of religious Britons, in particular, in the crosshairs.”
Buffer zones of 150m came into force across England and Wales in 2024. While Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) guidance states that silent prayer is “not necessarily” criminal, actions inside buffer zones that “influence” women accessing abortion are outlawed.
A similar law is also in effect in Scotland where even prayer inside the home might be illegal if the residence is inside a buffer zone, as recently indicated by Gillian Mackay, the MSP who drew up the Scottish law.
Mackay admitted that “performative” prayer inside private homes might break the law “depending on who passes the window”.
If you’re reading this and haven’t yet donated to SPUC, please consider helping now. Thank You!
