Grace Community Church Is Not In The News

As I reported here, Evangelical Pastor John MacArthur announced on July 25 that he would continue to hold indoor services at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, CA, without social distancing or masks, and with singing, in violation of several orders from civil authorities.

It's worth noting that Sun Valley is an area within both the City and County of Los Angeles, unlike other Evangelical and Pentecostal California churches that have defied civil orders. LA Mayor Garcetti has been particularly vocal with threats to crack down on violators, while other areas are much more sympathetic.

It's now been two Sundays and almost two weeks since MacArthur's announcement. The issue has gone to the back burner in the media, except for the Evangelical press. A piece in The Christian Post provides an update:

County officials have allegedly threatened Grace Community Church in California with fines and possible arrest for reopening his church in defiance of lockdown orders from Gov. Gavin Newsom during the pandemic. Still, Pastor John MacArthur has vowed to continue in-person services.

. . . We will not bow to Caesar,” he added. "The Lord Jesus Christ is our king."

Officials from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health have threatened MacArthur with “repercussions such as fines and even possible arrest” if his church doesn’t comply with state orders, the Rev. Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, wrote on Facebook.

The department’s Environmental Health division "is investigating and will be reaching out to the church leaders to let them know they need to comply with the Health Officer Order,” Religion News Service reported.

One question that arises is that, with a 14-day period following the July 26 reopening about to expire, there don't seem to have been any reported "cases", hospitalizations, or ICU visits among parishioners. MacArthur said as much in a statement this week. We may assume that if there were, there would be a media frenzy, which so far hasn't taken place. And we're talking about a megachurch, with thousands of members.

Instead, Mayor Garcetti is cracking down on wild parties in the Hollywood Hills. According to Variety, of all sources,

Following a deadly shooting at a mansion party, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is going after people throwing illegal large house parties during the COVID-19 crisis, vowing to have the water and power turned off.

“While we have already closed all bars and nightclubs, these large house parties have essentially become nightclubs in the hills,” said the mayor during a Wednesday afternoon news conference.

Garcetti said the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power will cut off service within 48 hours if the LAPD verifies that there have been violations at a home.

“We will not act lightly, but we will act,” he added.

This is actually a renewal of the same threat made during the March-May lockdown against businesses that didn't close.

However, this has a highly questionable legal basis. Even if a health department order is enforceable (not entirely clear for COVID), the city power department is not the enforcement authority, and in fact utilities, who send workers into all neighborhoods and often into homes, carefully avoid any imputation of law enforcement authority. Otherwise, utility workers run the risks law enforcement officers run, without the resources or training for the role.

Garcetti seems to have been careful to leave houses of worship out of his latest threat to cut off water and power to whomever. If he did, it's fairly plain that Franklin Graham stands behind the Grace Church action, and by taking any sort of enforcement, he'd get crosswise with a nationally prominent Christian figure. He does not want Franklin Graham standing against his water guys.

So Pastor MacArthur and the Grace Church are going to stay out of the news, first, because apparently nobody's gotten sick there, and second, there's only a publicity downside to enforcement. If there's a COVID outbreak among members, or if Garcetti shuts off the power or issues any other citations, we'll certainly hear about it. But so far, not a peep.

UPDATE: Yesterday, Garcetti did very quietly issue a cease and deist order against MacArthur.

Grace Community Church Pastor John MacArthur announced Wednesday that attorneys Jenna Ellis and Charles LiMandri will represent him and the church in their efforts to continue in-person religious services amid the state of California's and city of Los Angeles' efforts to stop them during the coronavirus.

The church is facing a cease-and-desist order issued by the city that carries a daily fine of $1,000 or arrest if it continues to hold such services.

. . . LiMandri said: "It is unconstitutional for Governor Newsom and the State of California to discriminate against churches by treating them less favorably than other organizations and activities that are not protected by the First Amendment."

LiMandri is a constitutional law attorney and a religious freedom expert. He holds a law degree from Georgetown University.

. . . Franklin Graham, the son of the renowned evangelist Billy Graham, has publicly expressed his support for MacArthur and the church in a Facebook post and encouraged people to attend the church services.

LiMandri previously represented South Bay United Pentecostal Church in a legal action that forced Gov Newsom to relax restrictions on church attendance. The relaxations forestalled any injunctive relief from the US Supreme Court in May.