Following a judge’s ruling on Friday, Bronx Household of Faith, a small evangelical Christian church based in University Heights, as well as dozens of other religious groups, will be allowed to continue using public schools to hold worship services during off-hours.

Since 1995, lawyers for Bronx Household have fought a city rule that excludes churches and other religious groups from worshiping inside schools, saying they should be treated like any other organization that rents space from the Department of Education. In 2002, after a judge issued a permanent injunction against the DOE’s regulation against worshiping, Bronx Household began using Public School 15 on Andrews Avenue for services. Last summer, in a split decision, a court lifted the injunction, saying the DOE’s regulation rightfully protected the separation of church and state.

An appeal of that decision by Bronx Household went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, but it declined to hear the case in December, leaving churches scrambling to find new places to worship. But another appeal by the Alliance Defense Fund, which has represented Bronx Household from the beginning, found a sympathetic listener in U.S. District Court Judge Loretta Preska, who issued a temporary restraining order on the city’s policy earlier this year. On Friday, according to the Daily News and other news organizations, Preska issued a permanent injunction of the policy, meaning Bronx Household and some 60 other religious groups and churches, will be allowed to continue worshiping in city schools.

Local Councilman Fernando Cabrera, who is also a pastor of a Bronx church, has led the fight to have the DOE’s policy abolished through legislation. He recently criticized Council Speaker Christine Quinn for failing to bring to the floor a resolution he sponsored urging the policy to be overturned at the state level. The DOE’s policies can only be reversed by the state legislature.

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