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SAVANNAH — At least one church has gone underground in Alberta, Canada, after the government closed the church to prevent congregants from attending services. In what is believed to be a first for the western world, the government triple-fenced the church, locked out its members, and imprisoned its pastor at a maximum-security prison.
Pastor James Coates of GraceLife Church was jailed for a month violating Alberta’s COVID-19 restrictions after holding services during the pandemic. One Ohio pastor supports Coates’ courage and believes governments around the world are learning they are powerless in stopping the Church.
“James Coats is a modern-day Daniel,” says Pastor John Bouquet. “He is a living testimony of how this culture is never going to stop the living Church. The government may try to lock our church up but no one is going to stop us. The true Church is not a building, it is a body. Whenever government impedes the church, it always backfires on them; the Church will always grow stronger. They can put me in jail but there is always another guy who will take my place.”
Coates was released from jail earlier in March and returned to preaching for his congregation at an undisclosed location.
Churches are allowed to be open according to Alberta’s COVID restrictions, but churches must limit their capacity to fifteen percent. Alberta Health Services has not said there have been COVID outbreaks due to the church.
Church officials released a public statement detailing how the church originally followed orders. In July, when two attendees tested positive for the virus, the church initiated contact tracing and shifted to online services for two weeks. Church officials claim that since that time, the church has met for twenty-eight consecutive Sundays without incident.
“James Coats is a modern-day Daniel. He is a living testimony of how this culture is not going to stop the living Church. The government may try to lock our church up, but no one is going to stop us. The true Church is not a building, it is a body. Whenever government impedes the church, it will backfire on them. The Church will always go on. They can put me in jail, but there is always another guy who will take my place.”
Pastor John Bouquet
It added that while none of its members have died from COVID-19, one congregant died because they were denied necessary health care due to lockdowns. The statement noted:
“By the time the so-called “pandemic” is over, if it is ever permitted to be over, Albertans will be utterly reliant on government, instead of free, prosperous, and independent. As such, we believe love for our neighbor demands that we exercise our civil liberties. We do not see our actions as perpetuating the longevity of COVID-19 or any other virus that will inevitably come along. If anything, we see our actions as contributing to its end — the end of destructive lockdowns and the end of the attempt to institutionalize the debilitating fear of viral infections. Our local church is clear evidence that governmental lockdowns are unnecessary. In fact, it is also evidence of how harmful they are. Without going into detail, we recently lost the life of one of our precious congregants who was denied necessary health care due to government lockdown measures.”
According to data from the U.S. Center for Disease Control published August 26th 2020, ninety-four percent of people who have died of the COVID infection in the United States had at least one other pre-existing condition, such as obesity, high blood pressure, or heart disease.
Last April of 2020, Pastor Bouquet led a band of one hundred clergy calling for Ohio Governor DeWine to end the COVID-19 lockdown.
According to Bouquet, “The institutional church operates in fear and has more concern keeping members safe rather than sanctified. The government may have stopped flailing institutional churches, but the churches in Ashland (Ohio) that are fighting these COVID restrictions are growing. It is my opinion that this pandemic is separating the wheat from worthless chaff.”
View the Rebel News video interview with Pastor James Coates below.
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The Bottom Line:
Daniel 6 says that when Daniel learned that the decree was signed, he went into his house and in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his GOD as was his custom since early days.”
