California, LA County both to pay $US400,000 settlement to John MacArthur’s church
RNS The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to authorise a $US400,000 payment to settle a legal battle with Grace Community Church over lead pastor John MacArthur’s defiance of COVID-19 restrictions in the early months of the pandemic. Under the agreement, which the board unanimously approved without discussion, the state of California […]
Protesters rally to cause of “jailed” Canadian church as pastor awaits trial
RNS For months, GraceLife church, near Edmonton, Alberta, has ignored Alberta Health Services’ guidelines limiting religious gatherings. In February, the authorities pushed back, jailing the non-denominational church’s pastor, Rev James Coates, for 35 days. On 7th April, after the church continued to breach rules about mask wearing and limiting attendance to 15% capacity, health inspectors […]
California legislator wants religious services deemed essential during state of emergency; Grace Community Church postpones event
Los Angeles, USRNS Senator Brian Jones, a Republican in San Diego County, introduced a piece of legislation on Friday that would deem religious services an essential activity during any declared state of emergency. In this 11th April, 2020, file photo, a person films pastor Nicolas Sanchez, centre left, celebrating Easter Vigil Mass at his church […]
Attorneys for US megachurch pastor John MacArthur denounce headlines reporting a church outbreak of COVID-19 cases
Los Angeles, USRNS Attorneys for Pastor John MacArthur of Grace Community Church are condemning recent headlines declaring a coronavirus outbreak in the megachurch that has defied public health orders since July. The Los Angeles Times on Thursday reported that three confirmed COVID-19 cases had been tied to the church. The headline for that story read: “Coronavirus outbreak […]
US pastor who has defied COVID-19 orders will face new hearing in November
Los Angeles, USRNS The same state social-distancing measures that have ensnarled Rev John MacArthur in legal proceedings for his refusal to close his church have now delayed a reckoning for the Sun Valley, California, pastor, as a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge on Thursday scheduled a hearing until mid-November. County officials, in a statement, […]
Updated: LA judge grants injunction barring John MacArthur, Grace Community Church from meeting indoors
Updated: 11:15am (AEST), 12th September, 2020Los Angeles, USRNS A Los Angeles Superior Court judge granted a preliminary injunction against Grace Community Church, prohibiting Pastor John MacArthur from holding indoor worship services. The County of Los Angeles has sought to stop the megachurch from hosting indoor services that have filled the sanctuary with many unmasked congregants sitting next […]
Los Angeles church can hold indoor services, judge says
Los Angeles, USAP A judge on Friday allowed a Los Angeles church to hold indoor services despite coronavirus health orders as long as it practices safety measures such as mask-wearing and social distancing. Los Angeles County had sought a court order barring Grace Community Church from holding the services, arguing that they were an immediate […]
More US churches sue to challenge COVID-19 restrictions
Updated: 2.30pm (AEST)AP Churches in California and Minnesota, backed by a conservative legal group, filed lawsuits this week against the governors of their states challenging restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus outbreak that they contend are violations of religious liberty. They’re the latest in a long series of legal challenges, many of them in California, […]
Church v state: US pastor John MacArthur believes the Bible trumps COVID-19 public health orders. Legal scholars say no
ALEJANDRA MOLINA, of Religion News Service, takes an closer look at the battle over church reopenings in the US state of California…
US pastor John MacArthur, Grace Community Church, defy bans on singing, indoor worship
Los Angeles, USRNS Grace Community Church congregants in Sun Valley gathered indoors and sang hymns on Sunday, defying California regulations that aim to limit the spread of COVID-19. “This is a very special day in the life of our church family. It is for us a return to what we love the most, the fellowship […]