(ChurchLeaders) A pastor in Alberta, Canada, who has repeatedly ignored pandemic-related health orders says he’d rather serve jail time than disobey God. James Coates, pastor of GraceLife Church near Edmonton, turned himself in to authorities after holding in-person worship services again on February 14.
According to the latest update from his lawyer, Coates was awaiting a bail hearing on Tuesday. “His first obedience is to his Lord,” says James Kitchen with the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. “The government’s forcing [Pastor Coates] into a position where he has to choose between disobeying God and obeying government, or obeying God and disobeying government.”