Grace Community Church, the Los Angeles-area megachurch that re-opened in defiance of coronavirus-related lockdowns, is pushing back against what media are claiming is an "outbreak" originating at the church.
Multiple Los Angeles-area news outlets claimed last week that a COVID-19 "outbreak" is happening at the church, framing the story around the church's defiance to lockdown orders.
The Los Angeles Times reported, "Coronavirus outbreak strikes L.A. megachurch that defied public health orders."
Local news station KTLA-TV reported, "Coronavirus outbreak strikes defiant Sun Valley megachurch that held indoor services despite public health orders."
According to attorneys for the church, the "outbreak" is actually just three confirmed COVID-19 cases.
Jenna Ellis, an attorney for Grace Community Church, called the stories "grossly misleading" meant to incite "fear-mongering" against the church.
"Three very mild positive tests among more than 7,000 people is hardly news. 0.04% is not an 'outbreak.' The LA Times and others' grossly misleading and fear-mongering headlines aim to mischaracterize Grace Community Church as irresponsible and a superspreader," Ellis said, the Daily Wire reported.
She added, "It has never been the Church's position that it is only safe to hold services if no one ever tests positive, or for example, if no one ever gets the flu during flu season. Our position has been that LA County shutting down churches indefinitely amid a virus with a 99.98% survival rate, especially when state-preferred businesses are open and protests are held without restriction, is unconstitutional and harmful to the free exercise of religion."
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed to both the Los Angeles Times and KTLA that the "outbreak" was just three COVID-19 cases.
More from the LA Times:
Under the county health officer's order, places of worship must report to the county Public Health Department when at least three coronavirus cases are identified among staff or worshipers within a span of 14 days so the agency can determine whether there is an outbreak.
Grace Community Church is locked in a heated legal battle with Los Angeles authorities.
The church continues to hold indoor worship services in defiance of a ruling by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge, which ordered the church to stop holding indoor services.
The city has asked a judge to hold the church in contempt of court, according to the LA Times.
Los Angeles County has sent notice to Grace Community Church that the county is terminating the church's parking lot lease, the latest development in a continued legal conflict between the church and the county over the church's refusal to comply with COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.
Grace Community Church, pastored by prominent evangelical John MacArthur, has been open for in-person services since late July in defiance of the state's COVID-19 restrictions. MacArthur has stated publicly that state and local government officials have overstepped their authority by restricting churches, and that the severity of the pandemic doesn't justify the restrictions.
Grace Community Church n Sun Valley now has 30 days to vacate the lot or risk having any private property left there be confiscated. The church has leased the parking lot from the county for decades.
Los Angeles County has been seeking to shut the church down with a restraining order since it reopened, but the Los Angeles County Superior Court struck down that request.
Jenna Ellis, an attorney for the Thomas More Society which is helping represent Grace Community Church, called the move "harassment."
"Los Angeles County is retaliating against Grace Community Church for simply exercising their constitutionally protected right to hold church and challenging an unreasonable, unlawful health order," Ellis said in a statement emailed to TheBlaze. "In America, we have a judicial system to ensure that the executive branch does not abuse its power, and Grace Community Church has every right to be heard without fear of reprisal. The Democrats' message to Americans is clear — if you don't bow to every whim of tyranny, the government will come after you. The Church has peacefully held this lease for 45 years and the only reason the County is attempting eviction is because John MacArthur stood up to their unconstitutional power grab. This is harassment, abusive, and unconscionable."
With the release of CDC data showing that only 6% of people who have died from COVID-19 had no co-morbidities, MacArthur said in a sermon Sunday that "there is no pandemic" and that he isn't surprised that such high levels of deception have been used to shut down churches that preach the gospel.
"We've all been suspicious of the fact that we've been meeting together now for weeks and weeks and weeks, and we don't know anyone who's ill. Nobody in our congregation has ever been to the hospital with this," MacArthur said. "We know there are reasons for this that have nothing to do with the virus. There's another virus loose in the world and it's the virus of deception, and the one who is behind the virus of deception is the arch-deceiver, Satan himself. And it's not a surprise to me that, in the midst of all this deception, the great effort that is going on is to shut down churches that preach the gospel."
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