Florida Pentecostal Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne of the River at Tampa Bay Church was briefly arrested for hosting a large Sunday worship service in defiance of a local county decree. Amid conflicting policies from state and county he’s now weighing whether to convene his church on Easter Sunday.
After the pastor’s March 30 arrest, the local sheriff declared: “His reckless disregard for human life put hundreds of people in his congregation at risk, as well as put thousands of residents who may interact with them in danger.” Last month the pastor had insisted his church was not comprised of “pansies” and encouraged handshakes while insisting the church wouldn’t close until the The Rapture. Later the church professed to comply with social distancing and provision of hand sanitizer, although the pastor had earlier dismissed the virus as a “phantom plague” exploited by globalists and the Rockefeller Foundation.
Another similarly arrested pastor is Tony Spell of Life Tabernacle Church in Louisiana, who convened his large congregation in defiance of a state directive against gatherings of 50 people or more. He explained “true Christians” see death as a “welcome friend.”
“True Christians do not mind dying,” insisted Spell, who is a Oneness Pentecostal who denies orthodox teaching about the Trinity. Worshiping at home “doesn’t work,” he said. Otherwise, why “has America spent billions and billions building churches?”
Like Howard-Browne, Pastor Spell sees the virus as “political manipulation,” and an “extreme test brought on us by the spirit of antichrist.” The local police chief has accused Spell of “self-promotion” while deriding “his reckless and irresponsible decisions that endangered the health of his congregation and our community.”
Both Howard-Browne and Spell are from the fringes of heterodox health and wealth Christianity. They of course are entitled to religious freedom. But legal directives aimed at all large gatherings during a pandemic, treating all groups equally, are arguably not religious liberty challenges. Would these pastors challenge directives about hurricane closures and relocation? Would they defy fire and building codes about their property?
Spell’s comment about the imperative of church buildings was notable. Sacred space designated for corporate worship is rightly cherished by most Christians. But worship does not require expensive properties and large crowds. God can be worshiped from a hospital bed, a prison cell, and a battlefield. Both Howard-Browne and Spell inspire questions about their charismatic personality driven ministries. Must legitimate worship entail big audiences physically listening to them?
Perhaps more importantly now is the question of Christian duty during pandemic. Even absent legal restriction, should churches publicly convene at risk not just to their own members but also to the wider public health? Neither Spell nor Howard-Browne expressed interest in the public health. They focused instead on the perceived spiritual needs of their own congregants regardless of the church’s potential role as convector for the virus.
Such disregard seems foolish, immoral and unchristian. Churches in modeling Christ don’t care only for themselves while disregarding the society in which God has placed them as witness to divine love. One woman driver interviewed as she entered Spell’s church parking lot declared she wasn’t worried because she’s covered by the blood of Christ. Does certainty of salvation justify avoidable recklessness about safety for self and others?
Church historian Philip Jenkins shares this instructive episode:
In England in 1665, plague breaks out. It hits a couple of big cities, but thankfully it does not spread far beyond those cities. In a small village called Eyam, there was a cloth merchant who orders samples from London. The cloth samples bring fleas, fleas bring plague and people start to die. And then the people in that village do something which earns them a place in the Christian story.
The village is absolutely divided on the middle between an Anglican, William Mompesson, who is their rector, and a Puritan minister called Thomas Stanley who agree on nothing. But Mompesson and Stanley agree that the plague is so dangerous that the people of the whole village must self-isolate, must cut themselves off from the rest of the world even at the cost of their own lives. Because if they flee, if they go to nearby great cities, then pretty soon the plague will spread through the rest of England and instead of a few hundred people dying, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people will die. Today we hear about self-isolation and social distancing and my thoughts always go back to that village, Eyam.
For those villagers, self-isolation was intrinsic to Christian fidelity.
All Christians lament the mass closure of our churches, especially during Easter. But our churches are closed for profoundly Christian reasons out of love for people inside and outside the church. The earliest witnesses to Christ’s resurrection of course had no churches to attend. They instead met Him in mostly small groups, with wonder and astonishment.
Ideally this Easter we will meet Him in small groups, with equal amazement, empowering us to live with faith through the present adversity and beyond.
Comment by Diane M Smith on April 10, 2020 at 5:29 pm
Amen, Mark! Well said.
After all, it’s written: Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Comment by Victor L Styrsky on April 10, 2020 at 5:35 pm
You are so right Mark – Jesus came to heal the sick and you think these leaders would be better by now?
Merciful God.
Ps. I miss the patch – always wanted one as a kid.
Comment by Steve on April 10, 2020 at 5:49 pm
Easter is Easter! He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! That’s all that matters. All the fanfare of church or no church, so what? We’ve got a situation beyond our control. Grow up, recognize the situation for what it is! What do you think if Christ and what He did for us? Have you accepted His free gift of eternal life? If not, the basics have to be embraced before all the meaningless fanfare of the day.
Comment by Ted R. Weiland on April 10, 2020 at 7:31 pm
I recommend we close all churches and replace them with ecclesias like we were commissioned to do in the first place:
“…When you hear the word “church,” what comes to mind? For most people, the word “church” means one of two things, depending upon the context:
“1) A building they frequent once, twice, or three times a week in which to pray, sing praises, and listen to preaching.
“2) The people who allegedly make up the church, aka the body of Christ, who frequent a building known as a church to do the things depicted in Option #1.
“What doesn’t come to mind is a community of believers in the fullest sense of the word—a biblical community established, not only on the Word of God, but also on the moral laws of God.14 When obedient to our ecclesia commission, these biblical communities will be established not on the Ten Commandments alone, but upon the Ten Commandments and their respective statutes explaining the Ten Commandments and their respective civil judgments enforcing the Ten Commandments and their statutes. These communities will, in turn, be adjudicated by biblically qualified men of God who are a continual blessing to the righteous and a perpetual terror to the wicked, per Exodus 18:21, Romans 13:1-7,15 etc.
“There is not a living person today who hears the word “church” and thinks of what’s depicted in the paragraph above. And yet this description represents the true meaning of the Greek word ecclesia, which has been tragically translated “church.”….”
For more, see online article “Ecclesia vs. Church: Why Understanding the Difference is Critical to Our Future” at https://www.bibleversusconstitution.org/onlineBooks/ecclesia.html
Comment by carr on April 11, 2020 at 12:46 pm
Some information is missing in your report. Pastor Browne consulted earlier in the week with the very sheriff who arrested him about whether to hold services or not on that Sunday. Pastor Browne was given the OK. In addition, the church installed an expensive, hospital grade air sanitizing system and distanced the chairs in the sanctuary six feet apart, except for family groups. They had other measures in place to sanitize surfaces. While Pastor Browne did joke a bit loosely, in my opinion, about not stopping church for any reason, etc., what he did- choosing to have church- makes some sense in light of what was allowed in Hillsborough County at that time. For instance, any or all of the parishioners could have skipped church and spent the day , unrestricted, in these ways: hunting for toilet paper at Costco, searching for birthday candles at Walmart, trying out a new lawnmower at Lowe’s, picking out pickles at Publix’s and and even choosing a fresh spring wardrobe and swimsuit at Target. With the possible exception of toilet paper, everything else is actually inessential by my understanding- yet it was allowed to legally be done and deemed “essential”. Store parking lots were reportedly full. In addition, if that were not enough to keep oneself occupied, go ahead, shop the liquor stores because they’re ultra “essential”; what about marijuana? oh, “essential”…schedule an abortion for Monday? OK- we all know how “essential” that is. It was in this context that Pastor Browne argued that the churches should be kept open. It is also interesting that this case was taken on by Liberty Counsel, an organization that has fought well for Truth and Life. Don’t rush to judgement on this like Pilate, there’s a lot to consider. Much more could be said. But do, like Pilate, wash your hands- again and again. LOL
Comment by Jim on April 13, 2020 at 5:27 pm
Romans 13:
Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.
Mr. brown (the Holy Ghost Bartender) would do well to heed scripture. His selfish arrogance not to mention his heretical theology brings reproach on the name os Christ followers.
Comment by Gary Bebop on April 11, 2020 at 3:58 pm
I appreciate Mark Tooley’s willingness to spark discussion. There’s an aspect he does not cover, but I wish he would in a future post: Will our churches retain their appeal (based on former well-channeled modes of doing worship) or is something new afoot, and will we perceive it before “our time” runs out? Cutting to the chase, so to speak, I’m skeptical of the amateurish rush to online services to sustain our churches. Will congregations flock to these services? Will they give to support them? Not by the numbers I’ve seen (with exceptions). We are being cleansed of our pretenses, our cultural echo chambers, our shallow sermons, our ridiculous banalities, our skimpy, trite theology.
Comment by Roger Monroe on April 11, 2020 at 5:57 pm
Open the churches on Easter Sunday from 6 am to noon. No sermons or speakers necessary; just recorded music or someone playing the organ or piano, perhaps changing every two hours or so. Let people come and go as they please, but respecting the 6 feet of separation in the pews. Sanitizers to
use on entering and leaving. If people can go shopping at Walmart why can’t we/they go to church for 5-10 minutes to pray?
Comment by Sad Easter Person on April 12, 2020 at 10:54 am
Happy Easter Everyone!
I sit in my empty church this morning giving thanks for Easter, and that we live in a country that can do so much to help people. Truly we live in a world of miracles as we celebrate the greatest miracle of all.
Yet, at this point it seems clear to many that shutting down everything is not necessary any longer, if it was necessary in the beginning. Yes, the church is a people, and we can worship anywhere, but please do not even try to say that corporate worship isn’t important to the health if the church and the people who are it. It sure seems the Scriptures placed great emphasis on worshiping and serving together.
Right now my church would be filled with joyous people celebrating, singing, praying, and socializing together on the greatest day the world has ever known. Worship by drive-in, Facebook, Zoom, a website, or any other internet tool is a very pale substitute for it.
Frankly, we should have just practiced civil disobedience and worshiped anyway, after making sure those people who are part of the church and very susceptible to being harmed by the disease stay away until conditions are better for them. After what some politicians have ordered it seems we are beginning to see tyranny in some places.
Comment by JR on April 13, 2020 at 12:54 pm
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/160229699215038384/
Comment by Phil on April 13, 2020 at 10:47 pm
I’m sorry you sad. I’m sad too. I live alone in two-bed apartment and while I still go out to shop for groceries and Zoom frequently with family and co-workers it has been over a month since I’ve hugged someone, shaken hands, or even given a high-five. In short I’ve had no direct physical contact with another human being since the quarantine began and one thing that’s helps me through this time is how much these little things will mean when this is over. For first time in nearly a decade I did not spend Easter with my parents because they’re both high risk as is traveling during these times. As much as I would love to be hugging my mother and father right now, I love both of them too much to risk their lives just to satisfy my loneliness. I understand why you’re upset. I miss Easter services too. I miss sharing communion. But don’t take this out on the people who are trying to end this pandemic as quickly as they can and save as many lives as they can. There’s nothing civil about acts that put innocent lives in danger. What kind of case have you made for freedom if all you use it to do is run off a road into a canyon. I know this is scary and the church is being challenged in ways it hasn’t before, but remember that when Paul was in prison or John in exile on Patmos, their hearts were still as much with the churches hundreds of miles away and they conveyed their love and guidance through the only means available to them, letters. I’m sure the recipients of those letters found them to be a pale substitute for having these men with them in-person, and yet nearly 2,000 years later hear we are still reading them every Sunday. Let the internet be our epistles. Let us use it to the greatest extent possible to care for our flocks and praise God for placing us in a time in which such things are possible. Praise the Lord who makes pale substitutes into treasures greater than gold.
Comment by Paul Morelli on April 13, 2020 at 7:38 pm
China has historically for the last 80 years or so met in small groups and not only has worshipped and survived but has thrived .. some estimates say that the 50 thousand Christian’s who existed when the foreign missionaries were expelled at the beginning of the communist revolution now make up an estimated 100 million believers .. how has our large buildings and institutions done compared to that ..
Comment by David on April 14, 2020 at 7:03 am
“[Bishop Gerald O. Glenn of the New Deliverance Evangelistic Church in Chesterfield, Va.] defied warnings about the danger of religious gatherings during the pandemic and vowed to keep preaching “unless I’m in jail or the hospital” died over the weekend after contracting Covid-19, his church said.”—NYT 4-14-2020