Los Angeles County has sued an area megachurch after it blatantly violated the state’s mandate at major social gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic after it filed with the county in an attempt to lift the restrictions.
The complaint against Grace Community Church was filed in the Superior Court in Los Angeles County.
“The province took this action reluctantly, after working with the church for several weeks in hopes of gaining voluntary compliance with the Orders for Health Officers, which allow religious services to be excluded from the spread of a deadly and to carry highly contagious virus, “the municipality said in a statement.
The church had filed its own complaint the day before.
According to a statement from the Thomas More Society, whose attorneys represent the Grace Community, the church card seeks to “prohibit California from maintaining its unconstitutional and unrestricted pandemic regulation of coronavirus.”
Sunday the church held services as usual. Pastor John MacArthur told CNN that about 6,000 to 7,000 people attended.
“We have opened the doors because that is what we are, we are a church and we will trust these people to make adult decisions about the reality of their physical and mental health and how that balance works for each of them, “MacArthur said. “Nobody forces anything, they’re here because they want to be here.”
Currently, places of worship in California can only have indoor services with 25 percent of their capacity as 100 people, which is lower. Singing and singing are also prohibited. California has been hit hard by the resurgence of the pandemic and now has more than 600,000 confirmed cases.
Grace Community said it will no longer comply with state health mandates.
“Once the devastating lockdown began, it would be a short-term stopgap measure, aimed at ‘flattening the curve’ – meaning they want to slow down the rate of infection to ensure hospitals were not overwhelmed,” he said. the church said. “But we are now more than twenty weeks into unforgettable constraints.”
It added, “Therefore, we can and cannot accept a moratorium imposed by government on our weekly congregation worship or other regular business meetings. Obeying would be a violation of the clear commands of our Lord. We, the pastors and elders of Grace Community Church, respectively, informs our citizen leaders that they have violated their legitimate jurisdiction, and being faithful to Christ forbids us to observe the restrictions they want on our business services.
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