CENTRAL, La. (Reuters) - The pastor of the Life Tabernacle Church near Baton Rouge [View all]
held services on Sunday in defiance of a stay-at-home order issued by Louisiana because of the coronavirus pandemic, telling worshippers they had “nothing to fear but fear itself.”
Pastor Tony Spell, who was arrested last week for holding services, summoned his faithful again, three weeks after the state’s governor, John Bel Edwards, banned gatherings of 10 people or more.
Hundreds of worshippers, about half of them black and half white, converged on the church, many arriving in 26 buses sent to pick them up. Everyone but immediate family members kept a social distance of at least six feet, a lawyer for the pastor said.
“They would rather come to church and worship like free people than live like prisoners in their homes,” Spell told reporters.
Referring to depression and anxiety suffered by people forced to stay home, he asked, “Could it be that it is worse than the people who have already contracted this virus and died?”'>>>
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-church/louisiana-church-holds-services-defying-coronavirus-stay-at-home-order-idUSKBN21N0UU?
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