In the latest development in the citywide debate over worship services being held in public schools, a judge ruled late last week that  New York City churches and religious groups are allowed to continue meeting in school space, at least until a lawsuit considering the matter gets resolved.

Bronx Household of Faith, the University Heights parish, has been waging a lawsuit against the Department of Education for 17 years for the right to keep holding services at PS/MS 15 on Andrews Avenue. The city has long wanted to end the practice, arguing that it could give the impression that the city was promoting one religion over another, a violation of the Constitution’s Establishment Clause. In its latest legal maneuver, Bronx Household of Faith claims that the city’s policy violates freedom of religion.

Federal Judge Loretta Preska issued the preliminary injunction on Friday, saying Bronx Household has a good chance of winning the case since “losing one’s right to exercise freely and fully his or her religious beliefs is a greater threat to our democratic society than a perceived violation of the Establishment Clause.”

The city’s law department said it will appeal the decision. In the meantime, Bronx Household and other faith groups will be allowed to return to the school sites.

Some had been locked out the week before, after the city’s ban was put into effect on Feb. 12. While Judge Preska had issued a temporary restraining order against the policy, it applied only to Bronx Household, and some churches had to scramble to find a place to hold services.

Heavenly Vision Christian Center, which held services in the auditorium at the Walton High School Campus, split its service into three separate sessions on Sunday in order to fit everyone into the small chapel space they own on Jerome Avenue. Its Manhattan congregation meet outside, on the sidewalk outside it sregular building.

“We have become a semi-nomad church,” said Pastor Salvador Sabino.

Religious leaders and a number of local politicians are looking to have the issue resolved legislatively. A bill that would reverse the DOE’s ban was passed by the State Senate earlier this month, but has not been approved by the Assembly. Speaker Sheldon Silver, who decides what bills come up on the Assembly floor for a vote, is looking for a narrower version of the bill than the one that’s been proposed, according to a spokeswoman. The Assembly has been on break but will resume sessions again today.

“The bill has 74 formal co-sponsors in the assembly, and others who support it. If it were brought to the floor today, it would pass,” said Bronx City Councilman Fernando Cabrera, who has been waging a campaign on behalf of the churches.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.