Moon Township megachurch kicks off 4-day festival despite community objections
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) — A megachurch in Moon Township that has been the subject of noise complaints is about to start making more noise.
On Tuesday night, Revival Today Church kicked off a four-day spiritual festival, angering neighbors near the church. Shane Tyra had just moved into the Woodland Ridge Subdivision in Moon Township when Revival Today Church held its first festival in June.
Five months later, he said he never imagined he'd have to endure that nightmare again.
"I don't know anybody who can go in front of a judge and say this will be a one-time deal and then do it again and face no repercussions," Tyra said.
A judge previously denied an injunction to stop the church from holding the spiritual festival in June on the 34-acre property along Coraopolis Heights Road. The township filed the injunction, saying the festival violated several township ordinances.
Since then, neighbors said they have had to endure the church's blaring outdoor services over a loudspeaker every Sunday for hours.
Despite continued complaints to police and township officials, Tyra says the laws aren't being enforced. He wants to know why.
"You are now a public nuisance to hundreds, potentially thousands of people, hundreds of families to be certain, and you can keep going on because you're a church," Tyra said. "I don't understand that."
Just down the street from Tyra, Paul Tomcheck says the windows in his house vibrate and the china rattles. To get his point across to township supervisors, he invited them to spend a Sunday morning at his house, to no avail.
"I don't want to hear their music," Tomcheck said. "If I wanted to hear it, I would go."
The backlash the church has received doesn't seem to bother Pastor Jonathan Shuttlesworth. In a recent social media post, he bragged that attendance is higher than ever, and he's setting his sights on a larger venue: PPG Paints Arena.
KDKA-TV reached out to township supervisors on Tuesday. They said they are working toward a resolution. Another public hearing is set for Dec. 9.