A district judge in Northern Ireland has convicted an elderly pastor of breaking the country’s abortion buffer zone laws by preaching a sermon on John 3:16 on a public sidewalk across from a hospital.
Retired pastor Clive Johnston, 78, the former president of the Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland, was convicted on two criminal counts and fined £450 (British pounds) for a July 2024 sermon he delivered on the fringes of a buffer zone near Coleraine’s Causeway Hospital. He is charged with “conducting a protest” that could influence a “protected person” and failing to comply with orders to leave, according to U.K.-based Premier Christian News.
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Franklin Graham, president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse, took to Facebook to commend Johnston and called on Christians to pray for him.
“God bless Pastor Clive Johnston for preaching the Gospel — John 3:16! … Pastor Johnston didn’t even mention abortion; he just preached the Gospel in a public space. I hope his legal team at The Christian Institute will have success in appealing this. Religious freedoms are being threatened not only in the U.K., but here in the U.S., Canada, and around the world.”
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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written and originally published by Decision Magazine. Used with permission.
