San Fernando Valley church, L.A. County square off in court over indoor ban

Grace Community Church in Sun Valley has continued to hold Sunday services despite county and state health orders. On Tuesday, Aug. 25, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge denied a temporary restraining order sought by county officials to prohibit indoor services at the church. (Photo by Dean Musgrove, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG) Grace Community Church Pastor John MacArthur preaches on Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020. An appeals court has ordered Grace Community Church in Sun Valley not to hold indoor services. (Video screengrab via Facebook) A San Fernando Valley church clashed with Los Angeles County’s Public Health Department in court on Friday, Sept. 4, over whether the county’s “Safer at Home” health order trumps the church’s right to hold worship services indoors during the resurgent coronavirus pandemic. In L.A. County Superior Court Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff’s physically distanced courtroom on Friday, attorneys for the county and for Pastor John MacArthur’s Grace Community Church presented arguments that went to the heart of the tension over health directives in the pandemic era: Does the harm to the church congregation’s free-speech rights to worship outweigh the public health harm of possibly spreading COVID-19. The bottom line: Is there a “compelling” governmental interest […]

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