{"id":439280,"date":"2021-04-21T16:20:48","date_gmt":"2021-04-21T20:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=439280"},"modified":"2021-04-21T16:20:52","modified_gmt":"2021-04-21T20:20:52","slug":"health-official-slaps-fines-criminal-charges-against-church-elders-for-refusing-to-let-him-disrupt-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/health-official-slaps-fines-criminal-charges-against-church-elders-for-refusing-to-let-him-disrupt-service\/","title":{"rendered":"Health Official Slaps Fines, Criminal Charges Against Church Elders For Refusing To Let Him Disrupt Service"},"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\">32<\/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%2Fhealth-official-slaps-fines-criminal-charges-against-church-elders-for-refusing-to-let-him-disrupt-service%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=439280&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-3147.jpeg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"  style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p>A public health official in Saskatchewan, Canada, slapped two church elders with criminal charges and fined their church $14,000 after they refused to allow him to enter their building with police during a service, citing their rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.<\/p>\n<p>The representative for the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) also dispensed several $2,800 mask violation citations to members of Fellowship Baptist Church in Saskatoon, and allegedly extended Pastor Steve Flippin\u2019s quarantine arbitrarily, according to a 30-minute <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rebelnews.com\/saskatchewan_church_receives_14000_in_lockdown_fines_and_charges_for_holding_services\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">video<\/a> on Rebel News explaining the situation.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"10.612244897959\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Sheila Gunn Reid reports on the story of Fellowship Baptist Church in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Fellowship has been harassed by public health bureaucrats for allegedly not abiding by COVID restrictions placed on religious gatherings.<\/p>\n<p>FULL REPORT: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/XsJShWWG9e\">https:\/\/t.co\/XsJShWWG9e<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/fTKekuS6pY\">pic.twitter.com\/fTKekuS6pY<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RebelNewsOnline\/status\/1384913282486738949?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 21, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cWe didn\u2019t want to make any waves, we weren\u2019t trying to overthrow the governing authority, nothing like that,\u201d Flippin said, explaining his church\u2019s decision to keep gathering as normal despite the 30-person cap placed on houses of worship in November. \u201cWe just feel like the worship of Jesus Christ is important enough that it must carry on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When a public health inspector \u2014 whom Flippin identified as Senior Health Inspector James Webster \u2014 showed up with police at the church during a service, church elders met him outside and refused to let him in, urging him to come back after the service. An elder read\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/laws-lois.justice.gc.ca\/eng\/acts\/C-46\/section-176.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Section 176<\/a> of the Canadian Criminal Code to Webster, which forbids \u201cdisturbing religious worship or certain meetings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery one who wilfully disturbs or interrupts an assemblage of persons met for religious worship or for a moral, social or benevolent purpose is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction,\u201d the law reads.<\/p>\n<p>In response to being read the law, Webster grew visibly irritated, threatened to charge the elder with obstruction, and demanded identification. He later mentioned how he observed the men not wearing masks while they were inside and that he found it \u201ckind of interesting\u201d they put them on when they came outside to talk to him.<\/p>\n<p>When Webster continued to threaten obstruction, which he repeatedly emphasized was \u201cserious,\u201d the elder said, \u201cLike I said, we\u2019re just holding a peaceful service. This is Charter territory we\u2019re talking here, right?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo, we\u2019re talking obstruction,\u201d Webster replied. When the men argued that the protections of federal Canadian law supersede a provincial health order, Webster made a dismissive gesture and said, \u201cNo, that\u2019s made up stuff. You\u2019re obstructing a lawful investigation. Period.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Webster later returned after the service to interrogate, cite, and scold the church leadership. He also slapped the church as an entity with a $14,000 fine and issued court summonses to the men who kept him from entering during the service.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh my God,\u201d Webster said, expressing shock at the approximately 100 people he saw leaving the church. As he dispensed punishments to the church leaders, he told one of them, \u201cIn some sense, I feel bad for you. Because you\u2019ve taken this ticket for the church, whereas really you\u2019ve all made this decision not to allow us to do our investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn a perfect world, we\u2019re looking for compliance,\u201d Webster said. \u201cWe\u2019re not looking for court dates.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Flippin also alleged that after he quarantined for two weeks following exposure to a family member with COVID-19, Webster\u00a0called him to personally rescind the all-clear he received from SHA. He and another official claimed to Flippin that because of the new COVID-19 \u201cvariant,\u201d a new protocol had been put in place requiring that he lock down for another two weeks.<\/p>\n<p>The supposed protocol, which would have kept Flippin out of the pulpit through Holy Week and Easter Sunday, does not exist in the Saskatchewan Health Order, Flippin\u2019s lawyers told him.<\/p>\n<p>Noting that he was the only member of his household who was ordered to quarantine for an additional 14 days, Flippin said, \u201cI wish I could say that it had nothing to do with the fact that I\u2019m the pastor of a church, but I unfortunately can\u2019t say that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The SHA did not respond to The Daily Wire\u2019s request for comment in time for publication.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related<\/strong>: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/can-religious-liberty-survive-covid-19\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Can Religious Liberty Survive COVID-19?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Related<\/strong>: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/court-grants-albertas-request-to-forbid-jailed-pastor-from-challenging-health-order-during-trial\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Court Grants Alberta\u2019s Request To Forbid Jailed Pastor From Challenging Health Order During Trial<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Related<\/strong>: <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/exclusive-pastor-and-lawyer-defiant-after-canadian-police-raid-barricade-church-at-dawn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">EXCLUSIVE: Pastor And Lawyer Defiant After Canadian Police Raid, Barricade Church At Dawn<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><i>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 <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i>member<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A public health official in Saskatchewan, Canada, slapped two church elders with criminal charges and fined their church $14,000 after they refused to allow him to enter their building with &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2276413,"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-3147.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"Health Official Slaps Fines, Criminal Charges Against Church Elders For Refusing To Let Him Disrupt Service","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-439280","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-3147.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"Health Official Slaps Fines, Criminal Charges Against Church Elders For Refusing To Let Him Disrupt Service","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439280","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=439280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2276413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=439280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=439280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=439280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}