(ChurchLeaders) While church leaders such as Rick Warren, J.D. Greear, and Andy Stanley announced they will not reopen their churches for in-person services anytime soon, John MacArthur’s Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California is staying open. This despite California Governor Gavin Newsom’s direction that houses of worship discontinue meeting indoors until the number of cases in California go down. MacArthur believes staying open is a “duty” mandated by Scripture.
“In response to the recent state order requiring churches in California to limit or suspend all meetings indefinitely, we, the pastors and elders of Grace Community Church, respectfully inform our civic leaders that they have exceeded their legitimate jurisdiction, and faithfulness to Christ prohibits us from observing the restrictions they want to impose on our corporate worship services,” MacArthur wrote in an article titled “Christ, not Caesar, Is Head of the Church.”