{"id":385669,"date":"2021-04-03T20:26:15","date_gmt":"2021-04-04T00:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=385669"},"modified":"2021-04-03T20:26:17","modified_gmt":"2021-04-04T00:26:17","slug":"john-macarthurs-la-county-church-continues-to-fight-for-freedom-to-hold-indoor-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/john-macarthurs-la-county-church-continues-to-fight-for-freedom-to-hold-indoor-services\/","title":{"rendered":"John MacArthur\u2019s LA County Church Continues To Fight For Freedom To Hold Indoor Services"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjohn-macarthurs-la-county-church-continues-to-fight-for-freedom-to-hold-indoor-services%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=385669&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-55.jpeg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Attorneys for Grace Community Church in Los Angeles filed documents in court Friday, the latest move in their continuing fight to defend their right to gather for indoor worship services.<\/p>\n<p>The church, which has repeatedly made headlines since its leadership decided to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/compliance-would-be-disobedience-prominent-california-church-defies-state-lockdown-to-resume-in-person-assembly\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">resume services<\/a> last July in defiance of state and local health mandates, was issued&nbsp;an injunction last September by L.A. Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff that ordered them against holding indoor services.<\/p>\n<p>The injunction also required that congregants wear masks and socially distance even during outdoor services.<\/p>\n<p>Grace Community Church and its legal representation will be in court next Friday on their motion to dissolve the injunction.<\/p>\n<p>Among the documents filed was a <a href=\"https:\/\/justthenews.com\/sites\/default\/files\/2021-04\/Rebuttal%20Decl.%20of%20Pastor%20MacArthur.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">declaration<\/a> from Grace\u2019s senior pastor John MacArthur, who addressed allegations from a blog post that his church is not reporting outbreaks of COVID-19 among the congregation. As The Daily Wire <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/john-macarthurs-church-cleared-in-l-a-county-covid-19-outbreak-investigation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reported<\/a> last November, the church&nbsp;was cleared by county public health officials after three out of their approximately 7,000 members came down with COVID-19 in October.<\/p>\n<p>MacArthur wrote that \u201cof the handful of people in our large flock who were hospitalized or died from COVID-19 over the past year, all the ones \u2026 of which I know were people who had remained quarantined because they had other medical conditions that put them at high risk. They did not get infected at Grace Community Church, because they were not attending services. Most of them were following strict health protocols and got the virus anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"page\" title=\"Page 6\">\n<div class=\"layoutArea\" readability=\"13\">\n<div class=\"column\" readability=\"21\">\n<p>MacArthur went on to write at length regarding what he believes are the theological implications of the mask mandate, but concluded that it is not the intention of the church to discourage parishioners from following health mandates.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe especially do not want to shame the person who wears a mask purely because he or she genuinely believes the current secular orthodoxy about masks as a potentially effective shield against viral transmission,\u201d he wrote. \u201cPeople in the church are free to wear masks <em>if they choose<\/em>. But people who [disagree are] likewise free to worship, sing, pray, and proclaim God\u2019s Word without a face covering\u2014even if that goes against the vacillating, sometimes arbitrary, and frequently heavy-handed dictates of government officials. It is simply not the church\u2019s duty to enforce executive orders based on a politician\u2019s whimsy\u2014particularly when obeying those edicts impinge on our freedom of worship in our church.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Jenna Ellis, the church\u2019s attorney from the Thomas More Society, said in a statement to The Daily Wire: \u201cLA County has never been required to justify their arbitrary health orders and discriminatory treatment of Grace Community Church. The facts and recent Supreme Court opinions show that the County and the state far overstepped their legitimate authority.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWorse, LA County retaliated against the Church for challenging their actions,\u201d Ellis continued. \u201cPastor John MacArthur and the board of elders were right theologically and constitutionally to open their church and stand firm. As Justice Gorsuch rightly said, \u2018Even if the Constitution has taken a holiday during this pandemic, it cannot become a sabbatical.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Beginning April 15, California is loosening restrictions on large indoor sports, theater, and concert gatherings as COVID-19 cases plunge in the state, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/entertainment-sports-nba-theater-los-angeles-lakers-ed9645feef26e713d4a84aaa189791dd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Associated Press<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related<\/strong>: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/compliance-would-be-disobedience-prominent-california-church-defies-state-lockdown-to-resume-in-person-assembly\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u2018Compliance Would Be Disobedience\u2019: Prominent California Church Defies State Lockdown To Resume In-Person Assembly<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Related<\/strong>: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/john-macarthurs-church-cleared-in-l-a-county-covid-19-outbreak-investigation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">John MacArthur\u2019s Church Cleared In L.A. County COVID-19 \u2018Outbreak\u2019 Investigation<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Related<\/strong>: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/exclusive-macarthur-against-the-world\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">EXCLUSIVE: MacArthur Against The World<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><em>member<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Attorneys for Grace Community Church in Los Angeles filed documents in court Friday, the latest move in their continuing fight to defend their right to gather for indoor worship services.The &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2311626,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-55.jpeg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"John MacArthur\u2019s LA County Church Continues To Fight For Freedom To Hold Indoor Services","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-385669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-55.jpeg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"John MacArthur\u2019s LA County Church Continues To Fight For Freedom To Hold Indoor Services","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385669"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385669\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2311626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}