If you can gather every week here to swap Tupperware or curse the Cowboys, then you can gather to serve the Lord as well.
That was the message Wednesday after the McKinney City Council voted to amend and remove city ordinances that restricted churches, synagogues and other religious groups from having services in someone's house.
As a result of the city's action, Grace Community Church of North Texas has agreed to settle a federal lawsuit it filed in July against the city. The lawsuit claimed the city's regulations regarding churches were unconstitutional.
Grace Community Church had been attracting about 20 to 30 people to its Sunday services at the northwest McKinney home of Mark and Linda Axelson.
A neighbor complained to the city, and city officials ordered the Axelsons to find another place to worship. Holding church services in a home was a violation of city code.
Until Wednesday's change, certain areas in the city required any church, synagogue or place of worship to get a special-use permit. The houses of worship also had to have at least 2 acres for their facilities.
The city regulations specifically targeted churches and related religious use, said Kelly Shackelford, chief counsel for Liberty Legal Institute in Plano, which assisted Grace Community Church in its lawsuit. The lawsuit states that the regulations violated federal laws protecting religious activities from undue governmental restrictions.
In the settlement, the city also agreed to pay Grace Community Church's attorney fees and related costs. McKinney City Attorney Mark Houser would not disclose Wednesday how much that would be.
Mr. Shackelford said he hoped Wednesday's council decision and settlement would send a message to cities across Texas and the nation that they can't have zoning laws that single out religious entities.
"If 20 people want to gather at your home and want to talk about communism, that's fine. It's fine if 20 people want to sell Tupperware or get drunk and watch football," he said. "If they gather in their home and sing a hymn or talk about faith, it's illegal."
City Planning Director Brian James said the changes basically clarify the law and get rid of some seemingly arbitrary restrictions relating to churches. Now, church-like gatherings will be treated just like any other type of social gathering, he said.
Religious groups will still have to follow the city's development and zoning rules, such as providing ample parking and adhering to fire and building codes designed to make structures safe to occupy. Those rules apply to everyone, Mr. James said.
The city would intervene if a church gathering in someone's house got too big to be safe, or drew so much traffic that parked cars clogged the neighborhood, he said.
Mr. James said the city would do the same thing if an ongoing Tupperware party grew into a full-fledged retail store in someone's living room, or if someone went from throwing a party for a few friends to running a nightclub out of his house.
Mr. Axelson, the church's pastor, said he received calls and e-mail messages from small churches all over Texas and in other states facing the same problem. He said he hoped McKinney's decision would help them as well.
Since moving out of his house, Mr. Axelson said the church met temporarily in a nearby shopping center and now leases a converted warehouse in the city's southeast industrial area. Its Sunday services have grown to about 65 worshippers, he said.
"We've seen growth not only numerically, we've seen growth in our people," he said. "It really has ended up being a blessing for us."