Pastor Jailed for Hosting Church Services in Home

The New American
August 7, 2012

Phoenix pastor Michael Salman is currently serving a 60-day sentence in a Maricopa County, Arizona, jail for violating his probation by holding religious services on his property, which is said to be in violation of zoning and building codes.

Salman, a husband and father of six, is an ordained pastor at the Church of God in Christ and a founder of Harvest Christian Fellowship.
In 2010, Salman was found guilty of nearly 70 Class 1 misdemeanors involving code violations in his home where he held church services, including not having lighted emergency exits, fire doors, or sprinklers. He appealed his convictions but the court upheld them.
On July 9, Salman began his jail term after being charged with hosting Bible sessions for as many as 80 people on his four-acre property, which he attempted to claim as a tax-exempt church. The city contends that as a church, Salman’s building was in violation of several codes.
Salman argues that he and his family should have a right to worship in his home and that his home was not used for public services and therefore should not be required to meet code requirements.
“The only people who came to our home were family and friends,” Salman said in a video posted online before he reported to jail this week. “Our home was not open to the public; it was private. We’ve never advertised. We’ve never had signage.”
The city claims to have evidence to the contrary, however, including photos of signage as well as pamphlets advertising services at the Salmans’ home.
Likewise, the Maricopa County Assessor’s Office classified the Salmans’ home as a church in 2008, and the Salman family has not had to pay property taxes on their home as a result.
Deputy city prosecutor John Tutelman asserted that the conviction is not focused on the Bible studies but on the building where they were held.
“The real issue isn’t the content of what goes on in the building,” Tutelman explained. “It’s the assembly itself. And he told us with all the evidence that it was a church.”
“The real issue is an assembly of a number of people in a structure that was not designed to comply with the city codes,” Tutelman continued. “If he set up a sign for a movie theater, we’d be prosecuting him for holding an assembly if it didn’t comply with the city codes.”