Adventists challenge limits on solicitations

A church group says in a new federal lawsuit that an Alabama city is illegally restricting it and other religious groups from doing door-to-door solicitations.

The South Central Conference of Seventh-day Adventists is challenging the constitutionality of two Alabaster ordinances.

The church claims the ordinances bar it from doing door-to-door solicitations unless they first register and pay license fees.

Church officials say the lawsuit was filed after a member of the church’s Summer Student Missionary Program was ticketed in June by an Alabaster police officer for selling books door-to-door without a city permit. The group suspended its program in Alabaster after the citation.