California Pastor Greg Fairrington said he has no intention of following Gov. Gavin Newsom's latest coronavirus lockdown and is even considering running against him.
Fairrington is the pastor of Destiny Christian Church outside of Sacramento. He told Fox News he plans to continue holding in-person services for his congregation, even though Newsom ordered a second round of shutdowns this week.
"If we don’t take a stand, all we’re doing is kicking the can down the road and we will be having the same conversations in three weeks, six weeks, six months, or even a year from now," Fairrington told Fox News. "We need to collectively take a stand and say, 'We are the church, and we have a biblical and First Amendment right to worship together.”
Earlier this month, during a livestream service, the pastor said he would consider a run for governor if he got enough support, The Sacramento Bee reports.
Fairrington held services online for 11 weeks before reopening on May 31. Days before the church reopened, President Donald Trump ordered governors to allow “essential” houses of worship to reopen.
The church said it will continue to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's guidelines of social distancing, wearing masks, temperature checks, and sanitation "out of an abundance of care for the people of our church and surrounding community."
Services also will continue to be broadcast to about 40,000 viewers.
"Our mandate is to obey the Word of God, and worship is a part of what we do as a church corporately," the church said in a statement. "As we pull together as a community, we choose to live in faith over fear. Just like our currency states, our founders pledged, and our churches believe: In God We Trust."
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