Liberty Counsel Calls Newsom 'Despotic' for Banning Home Bible Studies, Pasadena Church Ordered to Cease Worship

A California church is getting some help after being ordered to cease and desist from holding worship services. 

Attorneys for the Liberty Counsel, a Christian religious rights law firm, are asking a federal district court for a preliminary injunction against California Gov. Gavin Newsom's COVID-19 restrictions – specifically the one barring in-person worship services. 

On Tuesday, the Harvest Rock Church located in Pasadena received a letter from the city's code compliance officer demanding all in-person worship services cease.  The letter states that the city will continue to enforce the governor's orders "until the present emergency ends."

As CBN News has reported, Gov. Newsom's orders prohibit all in-person worship, including home Bible studies and fellowship. This ban applies to about 80 percent of the population. In the remaining 20 percent, limited in-person worship is permitted, but singing and chanting are banned.

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Liberty Counsel attorneys call the governor's orders unconstitutional. They say he's following a double standard because he repeatedly encourages tens of thousands of protestors. 

"His response filed in court admits he did not attempt to stop the protesters but says the reason is there were too many of them. If that is the case, perhaps if there are large groups of people who gather for worship, would he not enforce his orders? Yet, he has always encouraged the protestors to 'Keep doing it'," Liberty Counsel states.

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"Governor Gavin Newsom must have a different Constitution than the one ratified by the states," noted Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver. "While Gov. Newsom encourages tens of thousands of people to gather for mass protests, he bans all in-person worship and home Bible studies and fellowship. Such repression is well-known in despotic governments, and it is shocking that even home fellowship is banned in America. Neither history of the church nor the Constitution is on the side of the governor." 

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