“L.A. County requires places of worship to report to the Public Health Department when there are at least three COVID-19 cases within a span of two weeks, after which the agency determines whether there is an outbreak. GCC did not respond to a request for comment by press time.” - C.Post
My heart goes out to churches in places where COVID-related health orders have made it impossible to “gather in a normal way,” to use a phrase from Grace Community Church’s (GCC’s) “Statement from Pastor and Elders.”
Much of the debate over whether churches should submit to COVID-related rules in California has been inaccurately framed. “We must obey God rather than man,” they say (drawing from Acts). Using phrases like “ban on indoor worship” or even “ban on worship,” they represent the options as totaling two: We can (1) obey God by continuing to meet, disobey the manmade rules, and stand up for our rights or we can (2) disobey God by not meeting at all, comply with oppressive orders, and watch our liberties be slowly stripped away.
But these aren’t really the choices anywhere in California.
“The California Court of Appeal late on Saturday set aside a lower court order and reinstated a ban on indoor worship services [in groups larger than 250] for Grace Community Church pastored by John McArthur in Sun Valley.” - WORLD
“Aside from what the authors of this [Grace Community Church] statement may or may not believe, the statement itself makes no provision for the possibility that a Christian might choose another path and still be counted as faithful.” - 9 Marks
