Persecution Revived in Adventism

Creation 7th Day Adventists to be jailed / RFRA diluted by the courts

On April 5, 2012, notice was received by the Defendant from the U.S. District Court for Western Tennessee that arrest warrants will be issued by the U.S. Marshal Service for Pastor Walter "Chick" McGill and Bro. Lucan Chartier's refusal to comply with a court injunction resulting from a trademark lawsuit initiated by the General Conference Corp. of Seventh-day Adventists and the Seventh-day Adventist Church (all SDA members included as Plaintiffs).

The permanent injunction forbade their use of the names "Creation Seventh Day Adventist," "SDA," "Seventh-day Adventist," "Seventh-day" OR "Adventist" in conjunction with Church services, signs, Internet pages, advertising, books, fliers, etc.

District Judge Breen, in his ruling, decided that all claims to the protection of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) are void because it is a case between "private parties;" essentially, because it is not the government itself initiating the lawsuit but rather the Seventh-day Adventist Church organizations.

The Marshals are expected to issue warrants April 20th on behalf of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. This action marks the first time an Adventist believer has been incarcerated by the General Conference over the name "Seventh-day Adventist" since Pastor John Marik of Hawaii was jailed in the late 1980s.

You may find the relevant Court order at www.csda-adventistchurch.to/PDF/Order%20Adopting%20R%20and%20R.pdf

The pastor, Walter McGill, was  interviewed by WBBJ Eye-witness News 7.
www.wbbjtv.com/news/local/Church-Faces-New-Court-Order-146740825.html
 
Other links of interest on this subject:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_Seventh_Day_Adventist_Church
www.pastorwalterchickmcgilllawsuit.net/