The pastor of a Sun Valley church, that defied state orders by holding indoor worship services, is suing California's governor, the California Attorney General, and the Mayor of Los Angeles alleging that the enforcement of regulations due to COVID-19 is detrimental to houses of worship.
The Grace Community Church is claiming that there is unconstitutional favoritism in the enforcement of regulations. California Gov. Newsom has denied any such favoritism and says the restrictions are in place to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.
The pastor is claiming Gov. Newsom, Xavier Becerra and Mayor Garcetti have violated the Constitution by singling out houses of worship.
The plaintiffs' attorney accuses the state of treating churches less favorably that other organizations and activities that are not protected by the First Amendment.
Grace Community Church is among other churches in the Southern California region where church services are still being held indoors like the Godspeak Calvary Chapel in Thousand Oaks. As recently as this week, a judge declined to order the closure of Godspeak Calvary Chapel as it continues to hold indoor church services.
Previously, Newsom has ordered the closure of fitness centers, houses of worship, hair salons and barbershops indoors, nail salons in those counties on the state monitoring list, which includes LA County, and other counties across the state.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles County announced Thursday it has filed a lawsuit seeking full compliance by Grace Community Church to follow public health orders in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and keep church members and residents safe and healthy.
"The County took this action reluctantly, after working with the church for several weeks in hopes of gaining voluntary compliance with the Health Officer Orders, which allow for religious services to be held outdoors in order to slow the spread of a deadly and highly contagious virus," a press release said.
While not commenting on the specifics of the lawsuit--or on a lawsuit filed by the church against California’s governor and other elected and public health officials--the Department of Public Health released the following statement:
"We are working hard each week to respond to the many complaints related to non-compliance. The County always wants to amicably resolve these issues with all members of the community, including churches. We use education as the primary step in gaining compliance; however, when compliance is not achieved, we must use the other tools at our disposal. For the health and safety of both worshippers and the wider community, indoor worship services have been prohibited within the County since mid-July. This was a result of a California Department of Public Health mandate and many faith organizations have demonstrated great leadership and compassion by following the health officer orders and keeping their congregations and the broader community safe.
COVID-19 is a highly infectious virus and it is easily transmitted indoors, in crowds and when people are talking, raising their voices or singing. Research shows that gatherings outdoors with participants maintain physical distance and wearing facemasks are less risky."
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