Daniel Gowen regularly preaches in public places, including the downtown square in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He describes his preaching as Gospel-centered that leads to an audience stopping and listening. Earlier this year, however, he was cited by a mounted policeman for violating the City’s noise ordinance. Noise ordinances, while designed to serve the public, are often written vaguely enough to give police officers discretion to find a violation by Christian preachers or activists based on the content of their message as easily as on the volume of their message. In this case, Mr. Gowen was preaching loudly enough to be heard, but not so loudly that his audience would leave. Thankfully, unlike most noise ordinances, Lancaster City’s ordinance has an explicit exception that protects First Amendment activities. The Independence Law Center’s Chief Counsel, Randall Wenger, represented Mr. Gowen in court where the magistrate vindicated Mr. Gowen and agreed that the ordinance did not apply to his preaching. “We are grateful to God and to the court for this victory for freedom,” said Mr. Wenger. “Gospel preaching will continue to be protected under the First Amendment and local ordinance in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.”