Until recently, several states—including Minnesota—declared that it was unlawful to engage in the free exercise of religion in groups of ten or more. When churches dared pursue legal recourse to correct that issue, politicians, pundits and journalists offered criticism. As one of the attorneys on the receiving end of that criticism on more than one occasion, it left me perplexed. “What’s the big deal?” they might say, “Why can’t churches just worship online?!

After pressure from a group that advocates for the removal of religion from public spaces, a south-central Illinois town has painted over part of a mural that depicted a cross that is a well-known landmark for area citizens. The mural...

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, (working through her city’s director of public health), declares a Romanian church a “public nuisance.” “We will shut you down, we will cite you, and if we need to, we will arrest you, and we will take you to jail,” she tells this small group of former Soviet bloc Christians who refuse to bow to her power.

A suit to enjoin the Grundy County State’s Attorney and Sheriff from enforcing Governor JB Pritzker’s worship restrictions has been filed by a local church. The continuing worship restrictions are contained in Pritzker’s Executive Order 2020-32. Pastor Gionvennatti is seeking court protection to ensure that all citizens’ constitutional rights are affirmed without question and that religious liberties are not ever again infringed by egregious government overreach.

The most imminent danger to our republic is the overreach of government power, especially during a crisis. Our nation faces a fatal risk when government takes actions that violate our fundamental freedoms, leading us down the road of tyranny, to the erosion of our constitutional system.

Just hours after sending out an email to the IFI Prayer Team, we received word that Gov. J.B. Pritzker had lifted all restrictions on churches in the state. Peoria area attorney Brian Heller put the development more succinctly: We won, or more accurately, the Gov. retreated from the field of battle facing likely humiliation.

Late last month we sent email alerts to churches and pastors to let them know that we were organizing lawsuits to challenge Gov. J.B. Pritzker‘s illegal “shelter-at home” Executive Orders, and invite them to join us in making a case...

During yesterday's White House press conference, President Donald J. Trump officially designated churches as “essential places that provide essential services.” President Trump’s remarks came the same day that Fox News reported that U.S. Department of Justice was intervening "in an Illinois case that has the potential to invalidate the state's stay-at-home order implemented by Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker..."

Why is it safe to wait in a car for a liquor store to open but dangerous to wait in a car to hear morning prayers?

Obama judicial appointee Judge John Z. Lee of the Northern District of Illinois ruled against The Beloved Church last week as they filed a federal complaint challenging Governor J.B. Pritzker‘s emergency Executive Orders. The pastor and church, located in Lena,...

One of the nation’s leading religious freedom law firms, The Liberty Counsel, has recently reported that it is receiving a flood of complaints on behalf of pastors and ministry leaders in 30 states regarding heavy handed tactics singling out churches for punishment during shutdown orders. They are taking legal action in numerous situations to defend the constitutional rights of religious freedom.

If the Governor’s Order prohibiting gatherings of more than 50 people in a room, or his subsequent “stay at home” order, has resulted in embers of your church being unable to worship; typical events like funerals, marriages, baptisms being unable to proceed; or substantial financial losses due to decline in donations‍ and if you sincerely believe that restarting in-person church meetings is essential to your church’s ministry, we would like to talk to you about filing a law suit on your behalf.

Illinois law only grants the governor emergency authority for a period of 30 days, the extensions of Gov. Pritzker's "stay-at-home" order, which closes businesses and forbids church services and assemblies in excess of ten citizens, constitutes an overreach of executive authority. Thankfully, State Representative Darren Bailey (R-Louisville) took Gov. Pritzker to court over this very issue and won an important decision that may lead to a definitive strike-down of the governor's dangerous precedent.

We are going to lose 40% of our national GDP this quarter, incur trillions in debt, lose our freedoms and privacy, and shed tens of millions of jobs – including of health care workers – due to the shutdown and panic porn peddled by the political class. But for what? For a virus that had already been spreading for months and has a case fatality rate well below 1%. We will be left with nothing from the lockdowns other than a virus that will be kept alive for longer and kill more people.