California Superior Court Prohibits Indoor Worship at Grace Community Church (UPDATED)

KNX 1070 Radio is reporting that Judge Mitchell Beckloff issued an injunction today that prevents Grace Community Church from engaging in indoor worship services.

Read Judge Beckloff’s Injunction

Read Judge Beckloff’s Ruling on the Injunction

L.A. County had sought an injunction against the church for refusing to abide by the County’s Health Order banning indoor worship services. Grace Community Church had been having such services without following masking and social distancing guidelines for over a month.

L.A. County issued this statement to me:

We are grateful that the Court has granted the County’s request for a preliminary injunction and upheld the County’s Health Officer Orders temporarily prohibiting indoor religious services during this time of widespread community transmission of COVID-19. Religious services are central to many of our residents’ lives, especially in these trying times, and services have been allowed to be held online and outdoors with physical distancing and the use of face coverings, and they may continue to do so. The issue is a reminder that we must all work together and modify our activities to contain and slow this virus, which has caused the death of more than 6,000 Los Angeles County residents and has made thousands of others gravely ill.

We went to court only after significant efforts to work with the leaders of Grace Community Church to protect public health. We now look forward to working with church leaders on a plan to move services outdoors with physical distancing and the use of face coverings, which will allow worshipers to gather for religious observances in a manner that is lower risk and consistent with public health directives. This protects worshipers and the entire County community.

On August 30, MacArthur told his congregation that there is no pandemic and doubled down on that claim the following Sunday. Then, he falsely claimed that only “one hundredth of one percent” CA residents had COVID. The percentage as of now is 1.8%.

Grace Church issued a press release after I published this post. Here is most of it with comments from the attorneys and John MacArthur.

Special Counsel Charles LiMandri said, “We are disappointed in the ruling on the preliminary injunction as the court did not apply the strict scrutiny analysis to the government order that we believe is required by the California Constitution and legal precedent. The court also did not properly consider the medical and scientific evidence that the current number of people with serious COVID-19 symptoms no longer justifies a shuttering of the churches. Nor do we believe that the court gave adequate consideration to the fact that churches have been treated as second-class citizens compared to the tens of thousands of protestors. More than ever, California’s churches are essential. Therefore, we plan to appeal this ruling to ultimately vindicate our clients’ constitutionally protected right to free exercise of religion.”

Special Counsel Jenna Ellis said, “Although this is a temporary setback, we will continue to fight for Pastor MacArthur and Grace Community Church’s constitutionally protected right to hold church. While the judge did go out of his way to repeatedly state that he is not ruling on the merits, only a ruling at this very preliminary stage, Pastor MacArthur is still harmed because he has every right to hold church. Church is essential, and no government agent has the runaway, unlimited power to force churches to close indefinitely. The County’s argument was basically ‘because we can,’ which is the very definition of tyranny. Without limiting government’s power in favor of freedom and protected rights, we have no liberty. We will fight for religious freedom, as our founders did when they wrote the First Amendment.”

Pastor John MacArthur said, “In an inexplicable ruling, the judge said the ‘scale tipped in favor of the county.’ 1/100th of 1% of Californians with a virus apparently wins over the U.S. Constitution and religious freedom for all? That is not what our founders said. Nor is that what God says, who gave us our rights that our government—including the judicial branch—is supposed to protect. The scale should always tip in favor of liberty, especially for churches.”

It is baffling to me where MacArthur is getting his “1/100th of 1%” figure. If he was accurate, CA would only have 4,000 cases. Instead, CA has just over 749,000 cases for about 1.9% of the population. He has yet to respond to my requests about this claim or others he made this past Sunday.

While there is no hint in these statements about what MacArthur and Grace will do Sunday, there is no indication he will back off. The next scheduled hearing is October 22.

See all posts on L.A. County v. Grace Community Church here. 

52 thoughts on “California Superior Court Prohibits Indoor Worship at Grace Community Church (UPDATED)”

    1. Interesting that they didn’t even get it then. First, they try to explain the evangelical Trump voters as being duped, but there’s more than enough evidence that’s not even remotely the case — they understand who Trump is, and they love just about everything about him, and easily excuse the rest.

      Second, they want to believe that it’s mostly evangelicals who don’t go to church, and in the sense that may be true in that, as they say, a majority of self-identified evangelicals probably are probably not regular church goers anymore, but again, when it comes to conservative evangelicals, there’s very little evidence that even four years of Trump has softened their support for him, whether they’re churchgoing or not.

      Earlier in the year, I was involved in a discussion about whether the hiatus in church attendance caused by the pandemic would result in an acceleration of the decline in Christian faith in this country, and I thought perhaps there would be a small increase as young people get out of the habit of attending church, but now I’m wondering if the combination of the pandemic and Trump’s presidency might be a toxic brew that really sours the next generation from their parent’s faith.

      1. they understand who Trump is, and they love just about everything about him, and easily excuse the rest.

        Because Trump hates the same Enemies they do.
        Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend.

  1. So far have there been any reported cases of COVID-19 at Grace Community? I’m guessing it will be inevitable and perhaps even hidden from the press when it happens.

  2. churches have been treated as second-class citizens compared to the tens of thousands of protestors

    What utter B.S. Have any of the protests in LA been held indoors, without masks? The health rules (rightly so, given the science) are against large indoor gatherings. Unless the authorities have allowed some big BLM protest in an indoor auditorium that I’m not aware of, this is a dishonest and meaningless comparison.

  3. He gets to yell “persecution !” and be the lead martyr, and couldn’t wait to dare the County to make it happen. Talk about fulfilling the wishes of pride-bloated aging CEO, I mean pastor. The most notable fact to me is that you know he has been corrected on his % infected figure many many many times, yet he has not corrected it (even though it’s a simple math error a 6th grader could find and correct). Because it was never about the truth.

  4. “we will continue to fight for Pastor MacArthur and Grace Community Church’s constitutionally protected right to hold church.” – Nobody is stopping them from holding worship services…they’ve got a big parking lot, right? (oh…..)

    But seriously – just adapt like most other churches have by going outside or remotely. Nobody is stopping that.

  5. “Church is essential, and no government agent has the runaway, unlimited power to force churches to close indefinitely. The County’s argument was basically ‘because we can,’ which is the very definition of tyranny. Without limiting government’s power in favor of freedom and protected rights, we have no liberty. We will fight for religious freedom, as our founders did when they wrote the First Amendment.”

    What utter bullshit.

    One might reasonably consider the ability to gather for worship essential, but (i) no reasonable person would find that such consideration trumps the proven risk to human life posed by COVID-19, and (ii) the ability to gather for public worship is, in any case, preserved, provided such public worship takes place outdoors and is subject to prescribed public health measures (viz. wearing of face masks and maintenance of physical distance).

    “The County’s argument was basically ‘because we can’.” Um, no it wasn’t. Only a wilful misreading of the facts could yield such a conclusion.

    1. (i) no reasonable person would find that such consideration trumps the proven risk to human life posed by COVID-19

      No, it TRUMP(TM)s it.

      “The County’s argument was basically ‘because we can’.” Um, no it wasn’t. Only a wilful misreading of the facts could yield such a conclusion.

      It’s a Church(TM) claiming “PERSECUTION(TM)!!!!!” to show how RIGHTeous they must be. Nuff said.

  6. Want to bet that it’s Sunday services as usual, with MacArthur in the pulpit? No masks, no social distancing, because God, in the person of John MacArthur, wants it that way. Nothing short of arresting MacArthur is going to slow them down, and that’s not going to happen. Maybe when their cars are impounded in October?

    1. Throw MacArthur in jail for contempt. (Let him wallow in his Christian “persecution.”)
      Then padlock the church building. Cut off electricity and H2O.
      Any questions?

      Yes, Counselor Ellis?

      1. If the government wants to fine churchgoers over social distancing violations, then in order to be fair, it should do the same to BLM protesters, like it is being done in Australia. Yet, in the long run, fining and jailing people will not make things better for anybody, as far as I can see.

          1. Remember, that video of Dr. Fauci who said that not observing social distancing, whether indoors or outside, would increase the spread? Therefore, following this logic, the governments should discipline both churchgoers and BLM protesters. That’s how it was being done in other countries. Yet, I don’t believe that such disciplining is a workable solution because the virus will still be around until we get the vaccine, but people on both sides will have their civil liberties abridged and that would lead to worse consequences.

          2. No. because what WASN’T brought up in that clip was that congregating INDOORS has a higher risk of spreading the virus than congregating OUTDOORS. Based on that the state of CA (and LA County) have banned large indoor gatherings, and not outdoor gatherings.

            GCC (and other churches) have already been told that OUTDOOR worship services are allowed.

            so I’ll ask my question again:

            Where, in CA, are BLM protestors having IN DOOR protests?

            or conversely:

            Where in CA, have OUT DOOR church services been banned?

          3. In CA, BLM were not having indoor protests, but all it shows that California leaders, such as governor Gavin Newsom and LA mayor Eric Garcetti, both of whom left-leaning Democrats who got issues against Trump and religious conservatives voting for Trump and Republicans, simply do not consider BLM a major health risk. In other parts of the world, politicians consider them to be so, like in Melbourne, Australia. Over there, people protesting outside were issued heavy fines as much as people not observing their social distancing rules inside.

            Still, it doesn’t change my position that pastor MacArthur is being targeted for his religious beliefs and political affiliations, he is a Trump supporter, and LA county is using COVID as a pretext to subject him to punishment that to me looks too harsh. Remember, he tried to reason with authorities by posting signs saying that people with symptoms should not enter. So, there you go.

            I would like to reiterate again, that I find it useless to fine and even jail people, either for indoor church worship or peacefully demonstrating outside in the name of slowing the spread of the virus, because it will make them extremely mad and we could have a full scale civil war.

          4. “my position that pastor MacArthur is being targeted for his religious beliefs and political affiliations,”

            Even though you can cite no other cases where LA County has allowed other indoor gatherings.

            “to punishment that to me looks too harsh.”

            what punishment has actually been done to him? i.e what are you claiming is “too harsh”?

            “he tried to reason with authorities by posting signs saying that people with symptoms should not enter.”

            Was MacArthur “trying to reason with authorities” when he deliberately mocked a judge’s order about wearing masks and social distancing? when did he put those signs up? Was it right at the start of this case? Or was it after he started losing the court cases?

          5. It is not against the law to have ill wills against somebody and whatever mocking comments MacArthur has made, it was protected by free speech. His actions, not words, demonstrate that he is trying to negotiate with LA county and in American judicial system, we have a thing called settlement out of court. I hope GCC and LA will accomplish this for the benefit of all parties involved.

          6. You never actually answered my questions. Lets try again:

            what punishment has actually been done to him? i.e what are you claiming is “too harsh”?

            Was MacArthur “trying to reason with authorities” when he deliberately mocked a judge’s order about wearing masks and social distancing?

          7. Uhm, he was fined over $1,000, and then he was threatened to go to jail. At least, that’s what everybody here is talking about. I think sending him to jail would be cruel and unusual punishment. When he preached the sermon on mocking judge’s order, he wasn’t doing anything illegal per First Amendment. But even if he was, considering the fact that afterwards he posted those signs with warnings about the virus, it showed negotiation on his part and Los Angeles government should take that into account.

          8. So fining organizations the required amount for disobeying ordinances it “too harsh” for you?

            Enforcing contempt of court citations (which potentially could mean jail time), esp. when the defendant is flouting public health orders and risking spreading a deadly disease, is “too harsh” for you?

            I never said his mocking of the judge was illegal, although, it can be used against him if he is charged with contempt of court. I’m suggesting that it is evidence he was NOT “trying to reason with the authorities.” Your repeated attempts to dodge my question about that indicate you also know he wasn’t “trying to reason with authorities.”

            Given what he had said ,as well as the “waiver” he required volunteers to sign, indicates the signs he put up were less about “negotiating” and more about trying to cover himself against future lawsuits.

          9. MacArthur is planning on filing a lawsuit, correct? It’s possible that the court might find that LA county violated the 8th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Still, LA county has the right to discipline GCC but it has to be reasonable. In similar cases, plaintiff and defendants can get a settlement out of court, where nobody gets punished. I hope this one will be so.

          10. You really should quit while you are behind.
            If MacArthur is “being targeted for his religious beliefs and political afflilations”, what about the hundreds of other pro-Trump churches and pastors in Southern California that are not being “targeted”?

            Health regulations (for very good reason) prohibit large indoor gatherings, and that is being applied equally to pro-Trump churches, anti-Trump churches, non-political churches, movie theaters, indoor sports and concerts, etc.
            The only reason MacArthur is being “targeted” is his arrogant refusal (unlike almost every other church, conservative or liberal) to be subject to the governing authorities as Romans 13:1 teaches.

          11. Other pastors in Southern California were not preaching so strongly their beliefs that there was no pandemic unlike MacArthur. At times, various pastors and business owners have not been consistent in maintaining social distancing, it is difficult because of different situations, yet governments were able to work things out. With MacArthur, it’s different. Even after he tried to maintain a COVID safe environment in his church by posting those signs, LA county is still going after him. They don’t want to cut him even a little slack, and the only explanation for it, is politics.

          12. Other pastors in Southern California were not preaching so strongly their beliefs that there was no pandemic unlike MacArthur. At times, various pastors and business owners have not been consistent in maintaining social distancing, it is difficult because of different situations, yet governments were able to work things out. With MacArthur, it’s different. Even after he tried to maintain a COVID safe environment in his church by posting those signs, LA county is still going after him wanting to make example out of him. They don’t want to cut him even a little slack, and the only explanation for it, is politics.

          13. Posting signs doesn’t mean he was trying to “maintain a COVID safe environment.” Given his other actions, it likely means he realized things weren’t going to go his way with the court case and he was trying to mitigate the fallout.

  7. Odd, I thought Beckloff previously ruled an injunction wasn’t needed because the County could enforce the health orders on its own.

    1. That, and something along the lines of “We will see you in court.” I have no doubt MacArthur & co. are going to appeal; in fact, I think they’re aiming to take this all the way to the SCOTUS. I wonder who is representing MacArthur, and what right-wing crackpot “think tank” is bankrolling this absurdity.

      1. I suspect it won’t get very far since SCOTUS denied cert in a couple of other COVID-related church cases and allowed the appeals court decisions to stand. A couple of our resident lawyers can provide detail on that.

      2. I suspect it won’t get very far since SCOTUS denied cert in a couple of other COVID-related church cases and allowed the appeals court decisions to stand. A couple of our resident lawyers can provide detail on that.

        1. But by the time it gets to SCOTUS, it will be a SCOTUS Loyal to the Trump Organization Six-to-Three.

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