Article originally appeared on www.westernjournal.com.
Clive Johnston, a retired pastor in Northern Ireland, is facing prosecution for allegedly violating “abortion buffer zones laws” by preaching an open-air sermon on John 3:16.
Johnston, 76, decided to preach a sermon on the famous verse last July outside of Causeway Hospital in Coleraine, according to a release from The Christian Institute, which is representing him.
The elderly minister “never mentioned” abortion specifically in his sermon, raising the question of whether “a law designed to stop abortion protests” should be “used to criminalise gospel preaching.”
The open-air Sunday sermon was delivered from the “fringes of a buffer zone on the other side of a dual carriageway” from the general hospital.
Johnston had a preliminary hearing on March 21 and expects a trial “in the next few months.”
ICYMI: Retired pastor Clive Johnston in court. #ChristianInfluence pic.twitter.com/Jeulc00HhZ — The Christian Institute (@christianorguk) March 24, 2025
“If convicted, the grandfather of seven, who has never been in trouble with the …
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