Church Ordered to Stop Giving Away Free Water

By Todd Starnes/TWITTER
posted February 28, 2012

A Louisiana church was ordered to stop giving away free water along Mardi Gras parade routes because they did not have the proper permits.

“We were given a cease and desist order,” said Matt Tipton, pastor of Hope Church in Metairie, LA. “We had no idea we were breaking the law.”

Tipton said volunteers from his church were handing out free coffee and free bottles of water at two locations along a Mardi Gras parade route when they were stopped by Jefferson Parish officials. The church volunteers were cited for failing to secure an occupational license and for failure to register for a sales tax. the rest-sales tax on free water?

The sheriff’s department said there was “no validity to their complaint whatever their complaint may be.”