As a way to test the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) from discriminating against the LGBT community through the use of religion as a justification, Bill Levin, who refers to himself as the “Grand Poobah and Minister of Love,” has created the First Church of Cannabis. He held the first service on July 1, during the afternoon.

There have been 46,000 people who have like the Facebook page as of Thursday afternoon. Although it may seem like this is a trick, the extent to which Levin and his followers are willing to go show the commitment that they have to make sure all have equality under the law.

“Of course I’m going to test this law,” Levin, the Minister of Love, said in an interview with US News. “We’re building a church with the cornerstone of love, the way religions are supposed to be built.”

Their first church service began during Wednesday afternoon, with attendees either having time or making time for the event. The service ran as any church service would. This included a performance of the song “Amazing Grace,” and even a sermon by the “minister” himself. The only thing that was left out of the service for the First Church of Cannabis was the cannabis. No illegal substances were allowed, especially since police officers patrolled the area to make sure that nothing was out of line.

In terms of their theology, the church has few rules, which is how they like it. The congregants use marijuana to worship love and to spread love to others. To emphasize that, as a Christian church might do in a traditional liturgy, the congregation chanted “I love you” five times to all sides of the building, including the media who were set up in the back.

As you can imagine, not everybody will be pleased with this gathering or any future ones. Questions about the validity of the new religion will no doubt surface because of the seemingly “mocking” nature of the services. During the first service, Rick James’ song “Mary Jane” was sung and danced to.

Shouldn’t the application of an “exercise in religion” be the worship of a deity? Not necessarily. Many different religions are practiced in the United States that don’t consider a formal deity. Buddhism and Scientology are just two examples of that. The RFRA in section three, states, “as used in this chapter, ‘exercise of religion’ includes any exercise of religion, whether or not compelled by, or central to, a system of religious belief.” That means that there is no real monopoly on religion because a religion can be whatever congregants desire to worship or celebrate.

That won’t sit well with everyone, but as far as the congregants of the First Church of Cannabis are concerned, they are going to continue to celebrate love and keep growing. They do so through a GoFundMe account that has raised nearly the full amount of the $20,000 it seeks to raise.

“This is an honest-to-God religion,” Levin told The New York Times. “Other religions have sins and guilt. We’re going to have a really big love-in.”