John MacArthur and the battle of indoor worship in California
This article examines John MacArthur's legal and theological challenge to California's COVID-19 restrictions on indoor worship at Grace Community Church, analyzing the tension between Christian obedience to civil authority and the church's assertion that Christ alone holds authority over worship. McGeown explores how GCC justified resuming indoor services despite government orders, grounding their position in the doctrine that the state exceeds its God-ordained authority when it regulates the worship of the church.
John MacArthur, pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California is embroiled in a legal battle with the County of Los Angeles (LA County) over the right to worship indoors during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Grace Community Church (GCC) is a nondenominational, evangelical congregation with an average weekly attendance in excess of 8,000 people. On March 4, 2020 Governor Gavin Newsom proclaimed a State of Emergency in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, and has since issued a number of...
Full article available on sb.rfpa.org