Chick-fil-A branch in Virginia opens doors on a Sunday for displaced congregation

A Chick-fil-A branch in Sandston, Virginia has opened its doors on a Sunday to allow a displaced congregation to hold worship services in the restaurant.

The fast food restaurant, known for being closed on Sundays, has allowed the members of White Oak Community Church to use its space for worship services last Sunday after the congregation learned that the building that it had been using for its meetings had been condemned.

"Upon arriving to our current worship location we found that the building has condemned signs on the door," the church, which had been holding services in the ballroom at the Econo Lodge on Williamsburg Road, wrote on its Facebook page.

"The only legal use of any of the spaces are for the Econolodge to conduct business. We obviously do not have church this morning," it added.

The congregation was allowed to remove its equipment and supplies from the Econo Lodge, but the day's activities had been canceled until the church could come up with a solution.

Later that evening, a church member who works at Chick-fil-A at White Oak Village contacted her boss, who agreed to let the congregation use the space for Sunday services.

"They are NOT open for business. They have simply agreed to let us use their space for worship this week," the church clarified in a subsequent Facebook post.

Lead pastor Dave Wilde expressed his appreciation to Chick-fil-A and its manager for allowing the congregation to hold services at the restaurant.

"I did want to send a huge thank you to Greg Williams and Chick-fil-A for graciously agreeing to host us next Sunday," Wilde said in a video posted on Facebook.

"No they are not serving food... You cannot order chicken biscuits at Chick-fil-A next Sunday," he went on to say.

Fox News reported that Wilde had uploaded a video of Sunday's Chick-fil-A-based sermon to Facebook, but the post has since been removed.

Tricia Turpin Goza, who sometimes attend services at the church, said that around 30 people were present for the worship service at the restaurant last Sunday.

It is unclear if the congregation will be meeting at Chick-fil-A again this coming Sunday. Church leaders said that "conversations are being had and emails being traded" to figure out the congregation's next move.

White Oak noted that Econo Lodge had "fixed the building issues," but the church had decided not to return to the space for a "number of reasons."