CHICAGO -- A congregation of 120 members plans to sue Long Grove, Ill, city officials for not letting it build a church on 27 acres it bought three years ago in unincorporated Lake County.

Vision United Methodist Church, which is predominantly Korean, wants $5 million, roughly the equivalent of the town's treasury, for what it calls Long Grove's malicious effort over more than two years to stop it from building, according to the Daily Herald.

Long Grove twice denied permission to build on the land.

The church is expected to file suit in U.S. District Court, citing the First and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000.

"Long Grove is the giant Goliath trying to squash young David. David has had enough," said John Mauck, a religious law attorney representing the church. "This is one of the most malicious, mean-spirited, and systematic attacks on a church that I have ever seen by a government."

When the church first sought to build, there was little opposition at plan commission meetings.

Soon, however, neighboring residents balked at what they saw as a budding megachurch with plans for a 500-seat worship center with the potential for expansion to 1,000 seats, an amphitheater, a chapel in the woods and a proposed daycare area, the newspaper reported.

Church leaders sought a building permit from Lake County when the town rejected them, but were thwarted when the town forcibly annexed the property.

"For almost three years we have approached Long Grove with a spirit of peace," said Han Cho, who chairs the committee on church building construction. "Yet, despite our patience in making two requests for permission to build a house of worship, we have only encountered hostility from Long Grove.

"Long Grove has burdened our small congregation with huge expenses and has denied our freedom of worship," Cho said. "However, this lawsuit is not about revenge. It's about freedom of religion for everyone and holding Long Grove government accountable for their abuse of civil liberties."