Christian Group Files Lawsuit Against City of Moncton Over Cancelled Worship Event

Christian musician Sean Feucht of California preaches to the crowd during a rally at the National Mall in Washington on Oct. 25, 2020. Jose Luis Magana, file/AP Photo

A Canadian Christian organization has filed a lawsuit against the City of Moncton, arguing that the city’s cancelling of a planned worship event violated the group’s Charter rights.

The event had been scheduled for July 24, 2025, in Moncton’s Riverfront Park as part of Burn 24/7 Canada Worship Ministries Society’s cross-Canada worship tour with U.S. musician Sean Feucht. However, it was cancelled July 22 by the city, which cited safety concerns about potential protests.

The event was one of several of Feucht’s events during his tour of Canada last year that were cancelled. Some municipalities cited safety concerns when cancelling his events, while others, such as Montreal, accused Feucht, who has spoken out against gender ideology, of expressing discriminatory views.

The Burn 24/7’s lawsuit claims that the city violated the group’s freedom of expression as protected under section 2(b) of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Constitutional lawyer Chris Fleury of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), who is representing the group and filed a statement of claim on their behalf, said the case is about basic constitutional rights.

“This case concerns a basic constitutional principle: governments cannot suppress peaceful expression simply because others threaten to protest it,” Fleury said in an Aug. 10 release from the JCCF.

The lawsuit seeks a declaration from the court stating that the city violated the group’s Charter rights, as well as $50,000 in damages.

Burn 24/7 is also asking New Brunswick’s Court of King’s Bench to rule that neither side be required to pay the other’s legal costs, regardless of the outcome, arguing that the case raises constitutional issues of importance to the general public.

The group is a Christian non-profit organization that hosts worship and prayer events across Canada and had planned the stop in Moncton as part of its “Let Us Worship” tour featuring Feucht.

The Epoch Times contacted the City of Moncton but didn’t hear back by publication time.

Moncton had approved the organization’s application to hold the event on April 30, 2025, after which organizers said they spent the following months working together with city staff to ensure the site planning, bathroom facilities, water access, scheduling, and insurance were all finalized, according to court documents.

However, the city cancelled the event on July 22, two days before it was set to take place, stating that there were concerns in terms of compliance with its Code of Conduct in City Facilities, as well as pertaining to public safety regarding planned protests against the event.

Burn 24/7 says the event complied fully with city policies and had its own security plan. Instead, the organization claims that the event’s cancellation was unfairly prompted by the expected opposition rather than by any wrongdoing or non-compliance on its part, accusing the city of allowing a “heckler’s veto.”

“Public officials have a duty to protect freedom of expression, not surrender it to those who oppose a speaker’s message,” Fleury said.

After the event was cancelled, Burn 24/7 said it located another site for the concert in Taxis River, N.B., roughly two-and-a-half hour’s drive from Moncton.

The change of venue was finalized only hours prior to when the event was slated to start, according to the lawsuit, with Burn 24/7 stating that this last-minute change significantly cut down the number of people who attended.

While it had expected roughly 1,000 people to come to the Moncton event, only approximately 200 came to the new venue location in Taxis River, which the group said cut into the donations it had been expecting to get and also caused it additional costs for relocating on short notice.

Several other lawsuits have also been filed in relation to cancellations of planned performances by Feucht in Montreal, Quebec City, and Abbotsford, B.C., during his 2025 Canadian tour, with the Quebec lawsuit headed to trial.

The allegations contained in Burn 24/7’s statement of claim against Moncton have not been tested in court and the city has not yet filed a defence against the claim.