3 coronavirus cases confirmed at John MacArthur’s megachurch
Public health officials in Los Angeles said Thursday that they have confirmed at least three cases of COVID-19 connected to Pastor John MacArthur’s Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California.
Officials investigating the COVID-19 infections told the Los Angeles Times that they will be working closely with the church to limit the transmission of the virus but did not provide any other details.
Places of worship in L.A. County, where the church is located, are required to report to the county Public Health Department when there are at least three coronavirus cases within a span of two weeks so the agency can determine whether there is an outbreak, the Times reported.
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The Christian Post reached out to MacArthur and his church for comment on Friday. In a statement shared with CP, Jenna Ellis, attorney for MacArthur and Grace Community Church, said:
"Three very mild positive tests among more than 7,000 people is hardly news: 0.0004 or 0.043% is not an ‘outbreak.’ ... 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."
It does not appear that the announcement has affected current operations at the church.
Owen Strachan, an associate professor of Christian theology and director of the center for public theology at the Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, revealed on Twitter Thursday that he delivered a presentation on transgenderism to the church’s men’s ministry on Wednesday night.
“I did not have ‘speak at Grace Community Church’ on my 2020 bingo card. Pure joy to speak on transgenderism last night for the men’s ministry. (Video coming.) Praise God for this faithful congregation, for Dr. MacArthur’s godly example and teaching, and for many friends in LA,” Strachan wrote.
I did not have “speak at Grace Community Church” on my 2020 bingo card.
— Owen Strachan (@ostrachan) October 22, 2020
Pure joy to speak on transgenderism last night for the men’s ministry. (Video coming.)
Praise God for this faithful congregation, for Dr. MacArthur’s godly example and teaching, and for many friends in LA. pic.twitter.com/lce3dkk82Z
The announcement of the coronavirus cases at Grace Community Church comes months after MacArthur and elders of the church decided to defy a second round of public health restrictions on indoor worship services and reopen in the summer. They contended that it was the church’s biblical duty to remain open and that they would not disobey "our Lord's clear commands.”
MacArthur said last month that he wasn’t aware of any infections or hospitalizations due to the virus from an estimated 7,000 people who have attended his church amid the pandemic.
“We hear the other day that there is one death per 100,000 people from COVID in California at this present time, so the narrative doesn’t work. They can’t sell us this lie anymore that makes you shut down the church. We've had about 7,000 people in church the last couple of weeks. We don’t know of anybody sick. We’ve never had anybody in the hospital with COVID,” MacArthur said during a Q Session last month in which he urged pastors to open their churches because the supposed need for indefinite lockdowns is a “lie.”
He argued that while it's “crystal clear that God has ordained government,” he will no longer aid and abet the “lie” of the ongoing lockdowns in response to COVID-19.
“Being a pastor means you’re a truth teller. That means you’re truth teller when it comes to the Bible. That means you protect your people from deception that comes from the world. That’s part of being a shepherd. You don’t want to aid and abet the lie. This is a lie and you can’t necessarily say that everybody that’s involved in it has an ulterior motive but the lie is dominating and you need to be a truth teller and you need to do your homework,” MacArthur said.
