Defend Pastor John Sherwood
Defend Pastor John Sherwood
Latest: April 11, 2022
Acquittal of Pastor John Sherwood
Dear Friends and Supporters,
“I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude.” (Psalm 109:30)
“There is no wisdom nor understanding nor couns…
Read moreBackground
Pastor John Sherwood is a 72-year-old Christian minister who has been preaching the gospel for over 30 years. He is an extremely caring minister who has a sincere love and concern for all people. Pastor Sherwood reasons with unbelievers, with great courtesy. He is a patient, modest and humble man. He is dedicated to his call and faithfully preaches in the open air several times a week, as well as pastoring a small congregation in North London.
Pastor Sherwood was arrested on 23rd April 2021, while preaching in the open air in Uxbridge, West London. He was preaching at the time with another minister, Pastor Peter Simpson. According to the police, the reason for his arrest was that a number of members of the public were offended by the biblical definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman, which he preached based on Genesis 1:27. Pastor Sherwood did not target any specific group in his preaching. Indeed, as he distributed Christian tracts, he called on all to come to the Saviour, Jesus Christ. In his preaching, Pastor Sherwood pointed all people to repentance towards God and faith in Jesus Christ, because there is forgiveness in Christ for all.
Pastor Sherwood was pulled down from the podium, and with his hands forced behind his back he was taken away to spend some 21 hours in a police cell before being released. The appalling and distressing manner of the arrest of this elderly minister is shown here.
Next steps
Pastor Sherwood has since been charged under Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986 with “using threatening, abusive words and behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress” – a hate crime. The charge against Pastor Sherwood is totally unwarranted and unjust, and must be quashed in any society that respects freedom of speech.
At no point did Pastor Sherwood express anything akin to hate towards anyone.
At no point did Pastor Sherwood threaten any members of the public.
At no point did Pastor Sherwood harass any members of the public.
At no point did Pastor Sherwood use any abusive words towards any members of the public.
At no point did Pastor Sherwood show any hostility towards any members of the public.
Pastor Sherwood was merely preaching the gospel that many before him have been preaching for two millennia. It is the very job of a Christian minister to preach the gospel.
But sadly, Christian ministers have become a soft target for those who would silence the gospel of Jesus Christ and those who do not want to hear anything contrary to their own beliefs.
Were he to be convicted and criminalised for hate speech, it may set a precedent for preachers in the future.
How much are we trying to raise, and why?
Currently, Pastor Sherwood is being represented under legal aid with very limited funds for such an important and critical case as this. We are campaigning for him to have access to highly experienced legal representation for his trial in mid-December. We need at least £8,000 to secure such representation for him, and have a stretch target of £12,000. All funds received in excess of the legal costs will be used for further matters relating to this case, or in defence of other ministers' right to preach the gospel in the open air.
The charge against this beloved minister is an affront to the basic right to free speech. Many members of the public support free speech, and many support the preaching of the gospel.
Please donate!
Please donate to this extremely important and worthy cause. The case against Pastor Sherwood is unjustifiable and unacceptable, and he must be robustly defended. Please spread the campaign to all who care about preserving the right to free speech and to all who care about the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. Much is at stake.
Defend Pastor Sherwood from further unjust treatment.
Defend free speech.
Defend the freedom to proclaim in public all that the Bible teaches.
Defend the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Please donate and please spread the campaign.
God bless you.
Get updates about this case
Subscribe to receive email updates from the case owner on the latest news about the case.
Be a promoter
Your share on Facebook could raise £26 for the case
I'll share on Facebook
Patricia Newman
April 11, 2022
Acquittal of Pastor John Sherwood
Dear Friends and Supporters,
“I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude.” (Psalm 109:30)
“There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD.” (Proverbs 21:30)
It is with great joy that I inform you that Pastor John Sherwood was acquitted at his trial on 7th April 2022 at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court. As many of you know, in the course of open-air preaching at Uxbridge on 23rd April 2021, Pastor John was arrested and subsequently charged under Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986 with, allegedly, “using threatening, abusive words and behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress” – a hate crime. He had been expositing Genesis 1:27 at the time.
As a result of your prayers and financial support, Pastor John’s solicitors were able to secure an experienced defence counsel – Jane Osborne QC – who ably and admirably defended Pastor John at his trial. To God be the glory!
Under questioning, Pastor John was able to present the biblical view of marriage, homosexuality and sin. He explained that in his exposition of Genesis 1:27, he had been showing forth God’s ordination of marriage as between a man and a woman, the beauty of the same, and how this points to the union of Christ the Bridegroom and His Church, the Bride. He was also able to read in court what the Bible says concerning homosexuality in Matthew 11:24, and when questioned on his purpose, he said that his motivation was to bring people to salvation. Just like a doctor before giving a remedy has to diagnose the problem, so he had been pointing people to the fact that all transgression of God’s law is sin. He also said that his motivation for preaching is the love of God, and that he preached with the Day of Judgment in view.
Jane Osborne QC presented in her submissions to the presiding judge the words of Lord Justice Sedley, who said that free speech includes “the irritating, the contentious, the eccentric, the heretical, the unwelcome and provocative. It includes not only the inoffensive. Freedom only to speak inoffensively is not worth having.”
In his summation, the judge ruled that the criminal case brought against Pastor John Sherwood by the prosecution was not proved by the prosecution. The charge against him was accordingly dismissed.
Thank you very much for supporting this campaign and helping, by God’s grace, to secure the acquittal of Pastor John Sherwood from an unjust charge, and to end this year-long ordeal of his.
Thank you for contributing to defend free speech.
Thank you for helping defend the freedom to proclaim in public all that the Bible teaches.
Thank you for contributing to defend the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Pastor John is deeply humbled and grateful for your steadfast support. We rejoice and praise God for the victory.
Please do continue to pray for the preservation of the precious liberty of Christian ministers to continue to proclaim the gospel and all that the Bible teaches, as this remains Britain’s only hope.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; …” (Romans 1:16)
God bless you abundantly.
In the love of Christ our Saviour,
Patricia Newman
Patricia Newman
Feb. 17, 2022
Trial Adjourned
Dear Friends and Supporters
Please note that the hearing of this case has been adjourned twice. It is now listed for hearing on Thursday, 7th April 2022.
Please do continue to pray for Pastor John Sherwood. Please continue to pray that justice will be done and that the precious freedom of Christian ministers to preach the whole gospel is upheld.
Thank you for your wonderful support.
"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." (1 Corinthians 1:18)
God bless you abundantly.
In the love of Christ our Saviour,
Patricia Newman
Patricia Newman
Nov. 4, 2021
Campaign Update
Dear Friends and Supporters,
“And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto Thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak Thy word, …” (Acts 4:29)
We are now closing our campaign. We have reached our target! Praise be to God! Thank you to each and every one of you who has contributed to this campaign on behalf of our dear brother, Pastor John Sherwood. Thank you also for your wonderfully supportive comments, which have been a great source of encouragement to our dear brother.
As a result of your donations and your prayers, I am pleased to report that Pastor John’s solicitors have secured a highly experienced barrister for Pastor John’s defence at the hearing on 17th December. The funds raised (minus CrowdJustice’s commission) are being transferred to Pastor John’s solicitors by CrowdJustice.
Please do continue to pray for justice to be done, and for Pastor John’s unjust ordeal to end. May freedom of speech be preserved! May the liberty to preach the gospel be preserved!
The gospel of Jesus Christ must continue to be preached in this land, because it is the commission of Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, and it is Britain’s only hope.
Thank you again for your magnificent support.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; …” (Romans 1:16)
God bless you abundantly.
In the love of Christ our Saviour,
Patricia Newman
Get updates about this case
Subscribe to receive email updates from the case owner on the latest news about the case.
Recent contributions