Senior Pastor Bishop Nathan Thomas of Fresh Oil Family Fellowship and dozens of congregation members marched in north Austin Saturday night for what they call their right to worship.
“It’s being called “Jokes against Jesus” and it’s just really about our voices being heard,” said Bishop Thomas.
The congregation is protesting Capital City Comedy Club. The church and the comedy club are located in a strip mall off Highway 183 near North Lamar and are next door neighbors.
“We were not the promoters of this issue we are responding to this issue,” said Bishop Thomas.
Since September when the church moved in, the comedy club says comics have had to perform during church services.The two share a common wall.The club argues the noise is too loud and disrupts the shows.
“It is an explosive worship service,” said Bishop Thomas.“We have offered on many occasions to do whatever we can to be accommodating and we have not heard back from them.”
The comedy club has been in the strip mall for twenty years. The club had no comment. The property manager never returned repeated phone calls. However,there were some who were supporting the comedy club.
“It’s crazy to us that it’s being framed as Jokes vs Jesus,” said Nancy Reed a comic at the club. “This is really a tenant landlord dispute over a noise ordinance.”
Bishop Thomas says the church has no plans on moving. He says if the conflict can’t be resolved then the church will fight the battle in a court.
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