A Washington, D.C. church has been awarded $220,000 after it filed a federal lawsuit challenging the district’s restrictions on gatherings at places of worship during the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic. Leaders of Capitol Hill Baptist Church (CHBC) have appealed to D.C. officials since Mayor Muriel Bowser’s restrictions were issued on March 11, 2020, which banned all indoor and outdoor church meetings of 100 or more, even if participants wear masks and social distance. But in October last year, Senior Pastor Mark Dever and CHBC’s elders won a preliminary injunction (pdf) against Bowser’s restrictions, allowing the congregation to resume worship services outdoors with proper precautions such as wearing masks and maintaining social distance. In a settlement (pdf) between the two parties signed on July 8, 2021, Mayor Muriel Bowser and her administration agreed to pay $220,000 to church lawyers at WilmerHale and the First Liberty Institute, a Plano, Texas-based law firm that specializes in First Amendment religious freedom litigation. …