Alabama Bill Would Make Disrupting Worship Services a Felony

February 12, 2026

Alabama lawmakers are considering legislation that would make disruption of a church service a felony offense, carrying a potential prison sentence of up to 10 years.

Christianity Daily reports that the Alabama House of Representatives is expected to take up Bill 363 which would classify as a Class C felony certain disruptive acts that interfere with a worship service.

The proposed law says a person “commits the crime of disruption of a worship service” if he or she “knowingly” enters a “church building with the intent to disrupt the worship service” and either “engages in an unlawful protest, riot, or disorderly conduct inside the church building” or “otherwise engages in harassment of any individual participant in the worship service; or obstructs the ingress or egress to the church building or church property.”

The law would also bring harsher penalties for repeat offenders, stating that for “a second or subsequent violation, the individual shall be guilty of a Class C felony and shall serve a mandatory minimum of five years imprisonment.”

According to Christianity Daily, he bill was introduced last month by Republican state Rep. Greg Barnes, and has since cleared a House committee last week and is poised for consideration by the full chamber.

Barnes told the Alabama Political Reporter that, “No one has the right to disrupt a church service and infringe on their fellow citizens’ right to worship freely. In Alabama, we are not going to sit by and allow crazy people to intimidate our women and children in our churches. We simply will not tolerate it.”

Supporters of the bill say that the legislation was prompted by the recent disruption at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota where demonstrators stormed a church to protest Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions in nearby Minneapolis.

Photo: top, Credit: Daniel Tseng