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Archbishop Jose Gomez (L) stands before a cross during Good Friday service with Father Brian Nunez (R) inside the nearly empty Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels on April 10, 2020 in Los Angeles.
BRIAN VAN DER BRUG/Getty Images
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Most churches across the United States will remain closed on Sunday amid the coronavirus crisis. For many, it will be a markedly different Easter Sunday as they will worship via livestream. But some are defiant and ignoring calls from authorities to limit congregations to avoid the spread of COVID-19.
One church near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for example, expects more than 2,000 people to attend its services Sunday. “Satan and a virus will not stop us,” Rev. Tony Spell, 42, pastor of the evangelical Life Tabernacle Church near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He expects a crowd of more than 2,000 to gather at his megachurch on Sunday. “God will shield us from all harm and sickness,” Spell told Reuters. “We are not afraid. We are called by God to stand against the Antichrist creeping into America’s borders. We will spread the Gospel.”
When BuzzFeed called Spell, he “almost immediately began reciting the Declaration of Independence.” Spell has been charged with six misdemeanors for continuing to open his church to worshippers. “The president did not give me my rights to worship God and to assemble in church, and no socialist government or godless president can take that right away,” he said.
Some churches tried the livestream option but said that Easter is simply too big of a holiday to do over the Internet. “If it’s a crisis, the church should be able to dispel fear and panic and not join in with the fear and panic. We can’t really make a difference in our world just online. We’re one power failure away from being shut down,” Pastor John Greiner of The Glorious Way Church in Houston said. Greiner says he will protect the faithful by removing several rows of chairs and offering hand sanitizer.
Read more: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/04/some-churches-open-easter-sunday-coronavirus.html
See, all that Trump has to do is pray and we'll be all right.
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