Coachella Valley Church
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| Coachella Valley Church | |
|---|---|
| Type | Judeo-Christian |
| Scripture | King James Version |
| Region | United States |
| Headquarters | Des Moines, Iowa |
| Origin | 1975 |
| Congregations | 1 (San Jose, California) |
| Tax status | 501(c)(3) tax-exempt |
| Official website | coachellavalley |
| Part of a series on |
| Cannabis |
|---|
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Coachella Valley Church is the first Rastafari-based registered church in the U.S. state of California founded in 1975.[1] Coachella Valley Church is an Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church in San Jose[2] that uses cannabis as a sacrament and is a monotheistic religion that believes in a single God—referred to as Jah.
Beliefs
Members of Coachella Valley Church of Cannabis are known as Coachellans, claim that the use of cannabis helps elevate people to a higher understanding of self, and closeness to Jah—who members believe partially resides within each individual. They ritually use cannabis, which they call "God's Holy Healing Sacrament" to deepen love and livity. Central is the realization that an energy or life-force, passed by Jah, exists within, and flows through all living things.[3]
Membership
Members of any religion can become Coachellans without the need to convert, since there is no formal creed and there are slight differences in the views of various groups.[4]
Legal issues surrounding sacrament
Around November, 2017, church leadership stated that they were not legally a marijuana dispensary under city regulations, and should be exempt from taxation, zoning and other regulations as a legitimate religious group under San Jose's Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000.[5] The city attorney of San Jose said "Whatever their followers want to smoke, that's not the issue. It's the distribution and sale coming from the dispensary".[6] In 2017 the attorney said he would file an injunction to prevent cannabis sales on the church premises. By late December, 2017, the injunction had not yet been granted; a hearing for a permanent injunction was set for late January, 2018.[7][8]
See also
References
- ^ Churches using our name, Des Moines, Iowa: Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church, retrieved 2018-01-02
- ^ Sarwari, Khalida (2017-10-05). "Cities in Santa Clara County scramble to ban marijuana sales ahead of Jan. 1". The Mercury News. Retrieved 2018-01-02.
- ^ http://coachellavalley.church/spirituality/
- ^ http://jahworks.org/adjua_dubb/rastafari-way-of-life
- ^ Baum, Julia (2017-11-04). "Church claims religious exemption from local pot laws". The Mercury News. San Jose, California. Retrieved 2018-01-02.
{{cite web}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - ^ Churches offer marijuana to members, feature pot-smoking Jesus in ads, Houston, Texas: KTRK-TV (ABC 13), November 21, 2017
- ^ Ian Cull (November 21, 2017), San Jose Aims to Shutter Two Pot-Selling Churches, NBC Bay Area
- ^ Barbara Feder Ostrov (December 22, 2017), "At 'pot churches', marijuana is the sacrament", USA Today
- Melina Delkic (November 21, 2017), "California churches offer 'joints for Jesus' as part of high-minded spiritual journey", Newsweek
External links
Category:2017 in cannabis Category:2018 in cannabis Category:2017 establishments in California Category:Organizations based in San Jose, California Category: New religious movements Category: Cannabis in California Category: Churches in San Jose, California Category: Religious organizations using entheogens Category:Cannabis and religion