DULUTH, Ga. – The County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works has sent a notice to Grace Community Church, led by Pastor John MacArthur, informing them that the county will be terminating the church’s parking lot lease. Grace Community Church has held this lease since 1975. Lawyers for Grace Community say this move by the county is in response to the church’s decision to hold indoor worship services during the pandemic. Pastor John MacArthur also faces the threat of arrest, should in-person services continue.
The county warned that if Grace Community Church does not vacate the premise then“the District may enter the premises and remove Grace’s personal property in accordance with the Agreement and applicable law, and Grace will be responsible for any resultant expenses incurred by the District.”
“What the county is doing to Grace Community Church is absolutely unacceptable and unconstitutional,” said Timothy Head, executive director of the Faith & Freedom Coalition. “The Church has held services peacefully with this lease for 45 years, and it is clear that the only reason the county is attempting eviction now is because John MacArthur did not kowtow to fear and to the county’s outrageous regulations restricting religious liberty. We at the Faith & Freedom Coalition stand with Grace Community Church and support their right to keep their land and continue to worship our Lord and Savior.”
North Valley Baptist Church in Santa Clara has also come under fire for freely practicing the Christian faith. The church was fined $10,000 in total for holding a morning service and an evening service in spite of orders from Gov. Newsom.
These two cases are just the latest in a long series of religious liberty violations from state and local governments. Rodney Howard-Browne of Riverside Church in Tampa Bay, Florida was recently put in jail for hosting a Sunday service, and Highlands Church in Birmingham has had their property lease terminated and their contracts revoked.
The Faith & Freedom Coalition works to promote the values of liberty at the federal and state levels. To learn more about the Faith & Freedom Coalition, visit www.ffcoalition.com.
About the Faith & Freedom Coalition
The Faith and Freedom Coalition is a national grassroots movement of over 2 million conservatives and people of faith in support of time-honored values, stronger families, and individual freedom. Learn more about Faith & Freedom at www.ffcoalition.com.