The Christian Institute has urged supporters to pray for Pastor Clive Johnston ahead of his appeal against a conviction for breaching an abortion buffer zone.
Johnston, 78, was convicted and fined after he delivered an open air service within an abortion clinic buffer zone in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, in July 2024. During the service Johnston delivered a sermon on popular bible verse John 3:16. Abortion was not mentioned at any point during the service.
In May Johnston was convicted at Coleraine Magistrates’ Court and fined £450. His appeal is to be heard by the Court of Appeal in Belfast on Thursday.
The Christian Institute, which is supporting Johnston, said his lawyers would argue that buffer zone laws do not prohibit the preaching of the gospel.
Buffer zone laws were introduced around abortion clinics to prevent people from intimidating, harassing, obstructing or trying to change the mind of a person seeking an abortion.
The court is essentially being asked to judge if a sermon based on John 3:16 could conceivably constitute a breach of any of those stipulations. John 3:16 states, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
The Christian Institute said that if the Court of Appeal rules against Johnston, it will have effectively transformed every abortion buffer zone into a “gospel censorship zone”.
It said: “The implications reach far beyond Clive. If the authorities can prosecute someone for reading the Bible and preaching God’s love, then fundamental freedoms are at risk.
"The Police Service of Northern Ireland has already warned that merely carrying a Bible within a designated area ‘may constitute an offence’.”
It is asking people to pray for Johnston, who is currently unwell, as well as for his wife Sheila, his legal team, and “fair and widespread” coverage of the case.
