Fellow Non-Believers: Is it legal to run a church in a residential neighborhood?

[Fiery Phoenix]

A few months ago, the house across the street from us went up for sale. Since then, it has been purchased, and we have observed our new neighbors holding events on the front lawn, holding meetings inside with the blinds wide open, and 'neighborhood block parties' complete with Christian music and a sign out front that advertises them as a church.

I did some research into them, and they have their own Facebook page, and a website. They are hardcore Fundamentalist Christians, out to 'Spread God's Kingdom'.

Does anyone know if this is actually legal for them to do? I know my husband and I, and both of our next door neighbors are all either atheist, agnostic or pagan. I find this offensive, but beyond my personal offense, the traffic on our street has increased, there is no place to park, and they are running this church it seems 24 hours a day with various activities. It has disrupted the peace of our quiet residential neighborhood.

And finally, the other night, I looked out the window to see four cop cars blocking off the street, and they had one of our upstanding church neighbors in handcuffs.

Any advice on fighting this intrusion into our lives? They claim to be helping the 'troubled people of this low income neighborhood'. But in actuality, the crime rate in our neighborhood is very low compared to other neighborhoods in our city.
They are still there after the police visit, they let Mr. Handcuffs go, and after the cops left, I distinctly heard the guy say, "Wow, I can't believe they let us go!"

[Duck]

When they have a big party, call the police and report them as disturbing the peace. (But only if it really is out of control - loud music, etc.) If all they're doing is having meetings with their blinds up and not disturbing anyone, then there's nothing you can do about it.

[Ideo Fugiet]

Contact your local city or municipality zoning board. Most have ordinances that control the use of residential property for non-residential purposes.

[scrawnyachieve665]

As long as you've got the zoning permits, I'm pretty sure its legal

[cupcake]

it's not illegal, all my past churches did the same thing. as long as they aren't disturbing everyone else.

i live behind a pub, weekend nights are loud and rowdy (btw, my neighborhood isn't a dump) i live behind a plaza

[Michael]

They could be in violation of local zoning laws, and frequent block parties could be considered public nuisance.

[Torgo]

You can hold 'prayer groups' in your own home, but it seems this group has gone beyond this limit. Report them and they will be shut down. Or maybe they'll get Fox News to help them from 'government oppression'. Either way, the results will be interesting.

[Patrick]

Depends on the city ordinances where you live. Generally, it's not a crime to invite people to your house. If they're trampling your daisies or blocking traffic, they might be cited for violation of city codes.

[internet idiot]

I'm not sure which is worse, people going to church every Sunday or deciding that they're the only "true" Christians so they start up their own mini-church. Yikes. I have known (and been friends with) people that are "super Christians" (in their own minds). Scary bunch frankly.

If they are causing a public nuisance, then I think you can report them, but it sounds like maybe someone on your block already did, so maybe it's the end of it.

[Nightwind]

Many other people have already given you great advice on your options. The only thing I would add is don't bring up that they personally offend you when speaking to the police, zoning board, etc. People are allowed to promote things that offend you. If you bring it up, the listener may think you ahve a personal vendetta against these people and take your claims less seriously (even though it sounds like you have completely legit complaints).

Focus on legal violations: zoning, public nuissance, noise violations, etc. Ignore the rest.