‘Compliance Would Be Disobedience’: Prominent California Church Defies State Lockdown
The pastor and elders of a prominent evangelical church in California issued a statement on Friday explaining why they will no longer comply with the state’s mandate ordering them to refrain from in-person gatherings.
John F. MacArthur, the 81-year-old senior pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, also claimed that the state had overstepped its legitimate, God-given authority. Citing Christ and the Bible as the ultimate authority over his congregation, MacArthur wrote in the lengthy blog post replete with scripture that “we cannot and will not acquiesce to a government-imposed moratorium on our weekly congregational worship or other regular corporate gatherings. Compliance would be disobedience to our Lord’s clear commands.”...