After ignoring COVID-19 restrictions, the Canadian church was sanctioned for the second time. On Tuesday, Trinity Bible Chapel in Ontario, Canada was fined 85,000 Canadian dollars (68,000 US dollars) for contempt of court.
The allegation stems from a church service in April that exceeded the number of people allowed to gather indoors in the pandemic guidelines established at the time. According to High Court Judge John Krawchenko, the church allegedly blocked surveillance to cover up the number of worshippers entering the sanctuary.
The fines are broken down as follows: The church was fined 35,000 US dollars; the pastors Jacob Reaume and Will Schuurman were each fined 10,000 US dollars; and the church members Dean Wanders, Randy Frey, and Harvey Frey were individually fined 7,500 US dollars.Daniel Gordon
Trinity Bible Chapel was also fined $38,000 in February, $38,000 in fines, and $45,000 in court fees. Both payments have been repaid by the Woolwich Church.
The February and July fines were due to the church violating the COVID-19 restrictions set out in the Ontario Reopening Act and the Emergency Management and Citizen Protection Act.
At present, the church is protected by government-issued locks. When it is found that the church complies with certain regulations (such as establishing a security plan) and provides evidence to the Attorney General’s Office, these locks will be removed.
“Although we are disappointed that the Trinity Bible Church has been severely sanctioned for holding religious gatherings, we are satisfied with Judge Klauchenko’s order that the government’s lock must be removed from the church door immediately after the security plan is issued by the church. ,” said Lisa Bildi of the Constitutional Freedom Justice Center.
“In court today, we were fined a total of $85,000, plus upcoming legal fees,” The church said on Twitter“The total amount we have to pay will far exceed $100,000. But Christ is worth it! The price paid for him is insignificant compared to the price he paid for us.”
Pastor Reaume published his response to the sanctions in a blog post on the church’s official website.
He wrote: “Our Lord taught us to gather for worship at least one-seventh of a day. This is the consistent pattern of Christians since Pentecost.” “Our greatest grief over these contempt of court decisions is not ours. Punishment, but we defy the order of this court in order to defend the order of our creator. We would rather live in a world where the government and this glorious court provide orders is in line with the order of our Lord Jesus.”
Reaume ended the blog post, stating that he might enter the church soon.
According to the Canadian government, there were 7,333 active COVID-19 cases and 103 deaths in Canada in the past 14 days.
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