The Pastors Who Defy Church Shutdown Orders

It shouldn’t escape anybody’s attention that unlike Costco and the liquor store, churches have been universally declared “non-essential businesses” for the Wu Flu Season. Me, I’ve noticed personality changes in myself as a consequence of not having ANY social contact for too long. Texting and Skype do not count as social contact.

Straight-up truth: the American GOVERNMENT has no authority whatsoever to order CHURCHES how to do their business of worshiping God. Separation of Church and State, remember? Remember it’s unacceptable for a Christian to so much as pray in public or erect a memorial cross on State property? How is it, then, that the State is ordering churches to stop congregating in the name of God on THEIR own property?

The lies get dropped so quickly when they’re no longer useful, one must train himself to notice the sudden silences.

Anyway, here’s a selection of the pastors defying quarantine orders and their motivations for doing so.

FULL INTERVIEW: Central Pastor hosts more than 1,800 at Sunday service amid pandemic

FULL INTERVIEW: Central Pastor hosts more than 1,800 at Sunday service amid pandemic

By Abbi Rocha, 24 March 2020

CENTRAL, La. (FOX 44) (LOCAL 33) The Life Tabernacle Church in Central hosted 1,825 people at their March 22 Sunday service.

Despite government mandated “stay at home orders” Pastor Spell says it is crucial the church stays open.

[This interview] was conducted by Fox 44/Local 33’s Abbi Rocha after Spell’s Tuesday night service on March 17th.

Why are you continuing to stay open?

TS: “We continue to stay open we have our doors open as a church as a right to assemble. We reserve the right to worship God. We take all the necessary precautions of disinfecting our building, keeping people at a distance. These are our religious convictions and this is why we continue to operate as a church.”

That’s exactly right. We DO reserve the right to worship God.

After last night (March 18, 2020) there were 100 people in the same room many people consider that to be irresponsible, what is your response to that?

TS: “Is it any more irresponsible than people going to costco where there’s a thousand people? Or walmart where there’s a thousand people? I’m not posing any more of a threat than the people who are at the mall right now. Or any place of business. It seems to me the church is being persecuted because we are an easier target than those major companies who are keeping their lights on and still operating. We operate strictly by tithing and offering, support of our parishioners. We do not have the luxury of businesses who can operate by any other means of sales. If we don’t keep our lights on we are not operating financially.”

I’m sympathetic to staying open because of financial need. If cooperating with State decrees will destroy one’s livelihood then one should disobey the State.

Remember why you exist, American governments: as a servant of the people.

Tell me about the faith and beliefs of your church?

TS: “So as a church we are apostolic in doctrine, Pentecostal in spirits. So Pentecostal is known for lively worship, lively preaching prophesying, laying hands on the sick, people receiving healings in miracles.

Stop it, Pastor Tony. Just stop it. If your beliefs were legit then you Pentecostals would have put hospitals out of business a long time ago.

In fact, if God provided you with miraculous healings on demand like a Dungeons & Dragons cleric, there would be no atheists. Everybody would be lining up to worship God… in return for gibmedats.

That is why God DOES NOT do what you believe He does. He doesn’t want to be the Cosmic Vending Machine. He doesn’t want followers who require regular paychecks to sustain their “faith”.

Did He do miracles through the Apostles? Yes, but spare a moment to notice that Saint Paul was beaten like a pinata in between the times he was curing plague just by walking down the street. You sitting in your air-conditioned wooden box invoking divine favors like magic spells, are no Saint Paul.

We are Pentecostal in our experience. We are apostolic in our doctrine, and we are a basic new testament church. We are the first new testament church from the book of acts. We are also christian in faith, we relate more with people.”

How does your faith apply to this virus and what’s going on right now?

TS: “To the virus, like any other virus, influenza, human immunodeficiency virus, We are not going to live in fear. We are not going to seclude ourselves or go into reclusivity. Right now the majority of my church have been sent home for 30 days. Restaurants have closed, waiters and waitresses don’t have an income and are living in fear and torment right now because they don’t know how they are going to make ends meet. We are the last strong hold in society that’s giving some sanity to the insanity that’s around us. So that’s where we stand on that issue. We are in hospital, we pray for people that are sick, we go into hospitals, psychiatric wards on a daily basis, praying for people, laying hands on people, that’s what the church’s mission is in this time of peril.”

Reasonably said. Deep Staters like Fauci have so little regard for the fact that humans are a social species that one wonders if they’re skin suits or hypocrites.

The police and National Guard have threatened to stop your services, what is your response to that?

TS: “The police did come to my service last night, he did not come into my service, an usher summoned me outside to talk to him. He was kind, he was respectful as we were to him, he was doing his job, we were doing our job, he said the National Guard would be deployed to break up groups of 50 or more. That was as of up to an hour ago, I received a call from the Governor’s Office and the National Guard, a representative who said that is not their job. To cause panic with our parishioners, they will not disperse groups of 50 or more. There’s more to be said on that subject but that is the truth. That was the news up until about an hour ago. But we received assurance that we are not being persecuted for gathering and the National Guard would not be deployed to us to break up our gathering. That may have been the case last night, but not today.”

He’s been charged with six misdemeanors thus far. Also, Tony has a reputation as an anti-LGBT activist strong enough that my research came across a hatchet job from a Sodomite news site.

Do you believe the virus is politically motivated?

TS: “It’s a real virus. People are dying with the virus. People are dying with influenza. People are dying with cancer every day, all that is real. We don’t go into hiding because people have cancer. We don’t go into hiding because people have influenza. Which is probably more contagious than covid-19 which has been around longer than the past three weeks, whenever it has been politicized, so that was my statement. It shouldn’t be taken out of context that it isn’t real. It is real, but we pray for people that have the virus. Annoint them will oil, pray for them we believe in God to give them recovery, and healing. That’s the churches mission. That’s our purpose in the Earth to give calm, where there is no calm and be overcomers when there is no overcome.”

Hehheh, there’s some works of God. Calming people down from the media-induced hyperfrenzy? Certain important people aren’t going to like that.

I recently tried to calm down an elderly Chinese couple in my neighborhood. They were freaked out that Chinavirus could be spread by a stranger brushing past you. They thought the C-virus would hop onto your clothes, then crawl up to your face and squirm into your nasal passages like in a bad Syfy Channel movie. I don’t think I reached them but at least I tried. Methinks the neighborhood porch curmudgeon has less credibility with them than press releases from the White House, which is a tragedy.

Incidentally, sitting on your porch watching the neighborhood go by is a way you can make yourself available to do this kind of reassurance without breaking quarantine.

No matter what happens in the coming week, will you still hold services as normal?

TS: “We are going to continue to have services, our doors are open, we take the necessary precautions of disinfecting, If you don’t want to come to church, you don’t have to come. We are not mandating anybody, Everybody that’s here is here on their own free will. They know the risks, there’s a society that is up in arms, they are out of school right now, there’s nobody feeding their children. They are not being educated. That’s unrest. They’re losing their jobs. They have no income. Nobody can sustain that for a 30 day period. There may be a stimulus package i’ve heard that’s going to be sent out to those people. The church doesn’t get stimulus packages, We are 501C3, Federal exempt. We operate strictly on our own accord with no help from the goverment. So we have to keep our lights on. We have to keep finances coming in.”

Is there anything else you would like to add?

TS: “I want to let our law enforcement know that we are praying for them. Our government officials know that we are praying for them, we are behind them 100 percent. We are not going to crater to any spirits of fear, or torment.”

Pastor Tony is solid. His heart is exactly where it should be. He’s defying the quarantine orders with eyes open and making informed decisions, to care for the spiritual aspect of human life that our Cloud People rulers have completely neglected.

Tony Spell is good people.

The Americans defying Palm Sunday quarantines: ‘Satan’s trying to keep us apart’

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-palmsunday-idUSKBN21M0OP

By Michelle Conlin & Rich McKay, 4 April 2020

“Satan’s trying to keep us apart, he’s trying to keep us from worshipping together. But we’re not going to let him win,” Kelly Burton, pastor at Lone Star Baptist Church in Lone Star, Texas, wrote in a post on Facebook.

Lone Star has been holding services in the parking lot – what it calls “Church on the Lot” – and will do so on Palm Sunday.

When I tried to source this, the pastor of LSBC, Lone Star, TX is Rick Monds. Not sure what’s up with that, but this from their Facebook puts an entertaining light on their meeting in the parking lot.

One supposes they’re technically complying with the order by not meeting indoors while disobeying the spirit of “no more church” by inviting a Christian biker gang to join them outside. I approve!

Continuing with Reuters,

Rob McCoy [is] the mayor of Thousand Oaks, in the Los Angeles area, but also the pastor of Godspeak Calvary Chapel, where he will offer communion on Palm Sunday – though encouraging worshipers to stand six feet apart.

“It’s very important theologically that communion not be taken alone,” said McCoy. “What we are doing is exercising our inalienable rights. Communion is non-negotiable for us.”

Hmm, I don’t like his eyes… guarded on the left side, with lowered upper eyelids, plus a dispassionate, crooked mouth… and I’d be half-right because he’s a politician. But the good kind of politician, apparently. Physiognomy isn’t destiny.

I’ve said it before, California is a huge state. Not all of our bureaucrats are Communist perverts.

“Communion is non-negotiable”, what a different attitude from “do-it-yourself”.

https://gunnerq.androsphere.net/2019/12/02/diy-communion/

McCoy resigns from City Council

McCoy resigns from City Council

By Kyle Jorrey, 5 April 2020

Rob McCoy is stepping down from the Thousand Oaks City Council.

The pastor, who caused a wave of consternation and anger Saturday when his intentions to host communion at his Newbury Park church on Palm Sunday in defiance of state and county orders related to the coronavirus went public, tendered his resignation sometime after 10 last night, according to city officials.

“Councilmember Rob McCoy has resigned his seat on the Thousand Oaks City Council effective immediately,” the city said in a statement released this morning.

Thousand Oaks does not directly elect its mayor. Councilmen take turns on a rotating basis, which explains the swiftness with which the mayor’s role was re-filled:

In an interview with the Acorn following McCoy’s announcement, Mayor Al Adam said McCoy told the council he needed to step down because his religious beliefs were in conflict with his sworn oath to uphold state and local law and he didn’t want the council to have to deal with the fallout. McCoy has served as pastor at Calvary Chapel Thousand Oaks (now Godspeak Calvary Chapel) since 2001.

Wow.

Seriously, that is most impressive.

A man with status in both the church and the government found his two positions in conflict. Instead of riding both sides of the fence, he resigned his worldly power rather than compromise on his belief that communion is non-negotiable even in times of crisis… which will likely see him arrested in a week by the very government whose leadership he just resigned for conscience’s sake.

“He believes what he believes. He’s got his conviction,” Adam said of McCoy, who was first elected to the council in 2015 in a special election to fill a vacancy. He was reelected in 2016.

Adam said he felt McCoy’s decision to resign was the right thing to do.

“He can’t be an elected official and at the same time go forward with this (in-person communion in defiance of state/county orders),” said Adam, who for the past two weeks has been urging Thousand Oaks residents to stay home and cease all non-essential travel. “Now he’s a private citizen.”

During his Sunday sermon, which was live-streamed on Youtube (the sanctuary remained closed ahead of the planned 1 p.m. start of communion), McCoy said the church had taken all precautions to ensure the safety of people coming to take the sacrament, including putting up markers to enforce strict social distancing, limiting the number of chairs in the 400-seat church to 10 and cleaning the sanctuary. The communal elements (bread and grape juice) were to be set up on a table so visitors could take the items themselves without having to make physical contact with anyone, according to a message on the church website.

“In no way do I want to endanger anyone in this community—to the contrary,” he said. “I believe man to be a spiritual being.”

He already bet his job as a senior government official on that. He might soon be betting his very freedom.

McCoy is good people.

McCoy said the U.S. was founded on the idea of religious freedom and that he was choosing to exercise that liberty.

“I am in compliance and respect of authority. I will honor all (Centers for Disease Control) requirements, but I cannot submit to the authority that declares the church to be nonessential. It’s that simple,” he said.

OHHHH YEAAAAAH BAY-BEE! This is the Christianity that I’ve been looking for!

Of stepping down from the council, the pastor said: “I didn’t desire to resign from the council. I love serving the city. I’ve tried to do my best but this comes into conflict and I completely understand and I don’t want to burden the other council members. But this calling is critical and I believe this to be of utmost importance.

“I firmly believe if rights aren’t exercised, they’re lost.”

Some other local elected officials didn’t see it that way.

“Bringing large groups together is wrong,” County Supervisor Linda Parks said. “It endangers lives, including our brave deputies and healthcare workers.”

So many people called the county’s COVID compliance hotline Saturday and Sunday to report the church that a new message was recorded.

“If you are calling in reference to the planned activities at Godspeak Calvary Chapel church today, thank you, we are aware and we are investigating,” the message stated as of 12 p.m. Sunday. “County administration, public health and the public information officer will address the situation as needed.”

HAHAHAAAA! Satan had to leave a message on his anonymous-tips hotline! “We know about him already.”

In the city’s official press release announcing McCoy’s resignation, Adam praises McCoy for his leadership following the Borderline mass shooting and Woolsey fire in 2018.

“Rob was a voice of strength and healing as the city recovered from the two simultaneous tragedies,” the statement says. “I appreciate his contributions and wish him and his family well. While these circumstances are unfortunate, the remaining members of the council and I are very much focused on moving on.”

Despite the praise, Adam said neither he nor the City of Thousand Oaks condone McCoy’s decision to host the communion, which is set to take place today from 1 to 4 p.m. after the church’s 11 a.m. Palm Sunday services are live-streamed.

“My messaging has been clear,” the mayor said. “My desire is for residents to stay safe and stay at home.”

In a Youtube video posted Saturday, McCoy said the church planned to adhere to strict CDC guidelines.

To make that possible, members said, the church building on Via Las Brisas in Dos Vientos will be open for three hours so worshipers can filter through the church one by one, 6 feet apart. After taking communion, they can either exit out the side of the sanctuary or sit briefly in one of the chairs (each one 6 feet apart). Members who are sick or at-risk have been asked to stay home.

McCoy said it will be no different than people waiting in line at the grocery store.

Several members of McCoy’s congregation told the Acorn they supported their pastor’s decision.

“In Scripture it says there’s healing in communion and I think we all need that, body, soul and spirit, at this time because a lot of people are experiencing depression,” said Carol Roberg, 77, of Camarillo.

“This is a chance to come together and be responsible and use common sense,” said Tom Bennett, a retired Ventura County sheriff’s sergeant. “We don’t want to get anybody sick, but the ability to come together and celebrate and honor God is so vital for our mental well being.”

Because of the timing, McCoy’s seat is expected to remain vacant until after the November election, the city said in its statement.

Back to the Reuters article,

About 400 miles (644 km) north of Thousand Oaks, police in Lodi, California, interrupted a service late last month at the Cross Culture Christian Center, an evangelical church with about 80 regular attendees, to tell members they were violating stay-at-home orders.

“Last month” counting back from this article’s date of 4 April? San Joaquin County didn’t ratify the emergency order until 17 March. That is suspiciously fast police work.

They have since been given a warning posted on the church door, a “Notice of Public Nuisance,” demanding the center stop holding services, according to local officials.

“This is a serious public health threat,” said city spokesman Jeff Hood.

So why was the church called a public nuisance, not a public health threat?

Still, the pastor plans to hold services on Palm Sunday, said the church’s attorney, Dean Broyles.

“Simply put, no, we’re not going to obey it,” Broyles told Reuters. “The virus does not suspend our constitutional rights, the right to assemble, freedom of religion and freedom of speech.”

Broyles said the church is taking steps to mitigate risks, including sanitizing the building before services and asking that the elderly or those with health problems remain at home.

“We’re much safer than a Walmart or grocery store,” said Broyles, who is also president of the National Center for Law & Policy, a legal advocacy group based in San Diego. “Think about it, you’re crammed into (store) aisles inches apart from other shoppers. Here we’re sitting six feet apart.”

That could explain a lot about the government cracking down hard & fast on this little church, if they had already been fighting the government to the point of having a national legal foundation on speed-dial.

*checks*

Lodi church defying stay-at-home order receives notice from county, officials say

LODI, Calif. (KTXL) — San Joaquin County’s interim public health officer issued an order prohibiting public assembly at a Lodi church after officials say church members defied a previous request.

According to the city of Lodi, the police department had previously requested that Cross Culture Christian Center members suspend their meetings since it “violated the County’s public health order prohibiting gatherings.”

“It’s unfortunate we have to go to these lengths when the threat of COVID-19 is so clear,” said City Attorney Janic Magich in Friday’s press release. “It is gratifying, however, to see other churches in Lodi understand the responsibility to protect public health by suspending in-person gatherings.”

The new order was issued Friday and applies to Bethel Open Bible Church, which is where the Cross Culture Christian Center had continued to hold meetings, according to officials.

The Cross Culture Christian Center leases its gathering space from the Bethel Open Bible Church, which the city says has been cooperating with the city and county’s efforts.

Mystery solved. It’s not an ongoing Church-State feud. Bethel Church called in the police because it obeyed the order and their tenant-church didn’t.

We believers are not supposed to call in the secular authorities to judge one another on matters of conscience!

Police first noticed the members meeting on March 25 and approached them to inform them they were violating the stay-at-home order. On March 29, the city says officers noticed they were still meeting.

Either the Lodi police were bored as puck or the landlord kept calling them in. It’s hard to “notice” a church of eighty people… many of whom, I suspect, have not been attending lately.

“We hold truly to the belief that the church should be meeting as much as possible,” Pastor Jon Duncan told FOX40.

The church’s attorney sent the city of Lodi and the Lodi Police Department a cease and desist letter citing their religious freedom had been violated.

“We simply believe that constitutional rights are not suspended by a virus,” said attorney Dean Broyles.

Duncan said his church had already implemented safety measures such as hand-washing stations and spacing out seating.

Bethel OBC has now been ordered to close entirely as a result of Duncan’s refusal to obey the order.

Feeriker, you’ll like this. I checked their website:

http://bethellodi.com/

…and it’s a temporary website with only two items on it: an invitation to the online service and as you predicted, directions on how to continue tithing while they’re closed.

There’s a video of Pastor John Duncan for the interested in the following link, although the article itself discusses our next example:

Renegade Sacramento-area church services: One goes ahead with a crowd, second parish cancels

https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article241786206.html

By Sam Stanton and Dale Kasler

Defying orders from public health officials and California Gov. Gavin Newsom to avoid large gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic, a church in Roseville held a two-hour service Sunday morning attended by dozens of parishioners.

Abundant Life Fellowship Church went ahead as promised, blocking outsiders and media from coming inside or interviewing attendees, but allowing parishioners to file in from more than 40 vehicles that were in the parking lot near downtown Roseville.

Pastor Doug Bird had not been available for an interview since Friday, but posted a vow to continue on the church Facebook page.

“If you are a visitor (not a part of ALF) and plan on traveling here to ‘shame’ us, SHAME ON YOU!” he wrote. “In these dangerous times you will be putting our church community at GREAT risk! YOU ARE NOT WELCOMED AT THIS CHURCH.”

Sweet. None dare call THIS church seeker-friendly! That’s a compliment. Nothing cheapens the Gospel more than those dying-gasp church marquees “Come as you are! You are welcome here!” except maybe not displaying the Cross because it can be offensive.

Order him to apologize, Governor Newscum. I dare you!

Pastors, PLEASE stop posing with your wives. She is not your “better half” as either a priest of God or a man who still wears pants.

…Uh-oh. She already holds the title of Pastor. Indeed, it’s a fully cucked Church with multiple female “assistant pastors”. Sad that a clergyman can stand against the world yet not against Original Sin itself.

When God gave Eve a chunk of Adam’s rib cage, the symbology is that women will always be a weak point in a man’s armor.

I don’t mind if a church chooses to close. That’s between its leadership and God. But the principle must be upheld, that the government has no authority to command the churches on how they worship. Like Peter before the Sanhedrin, we must obey God rather than men.

No church should be punished for violating this quarantine. If clergy allow this for “sensible reasons” then it’ll set the precedent we’ll choke on. Notice that our rulers don’t even consider Christianity a religion anymore. It’s a “faith tradition”. And sometimes, traditions need to be modernized….