by By Joel Abbot, Not the Bee
A pastor in Edmonton, Canada was just tried, sentenced, and jailed for refusing to follow government pandemic mandates.
BREAKING: Pastor James Coates of GraceLife Church of Edmonton was just carried off to jail in hand and ankle cuffs. The condition of his release is that he cannot preach. His wife/kids are not allowed to see him.
The 1st Canadian pastor to be jailed for holding a church service pic.twitter.com/AKMPVWgFXw
— Jeremy (on Theology) (@TheologyJeremy) February 17, 2021
Pastor James Coates of GraceLife Church was charged and arrested after last Sunday’s service with repeatedly failing to follow mask and 15% capacity mandates.
His crime? Hosting 300 maskless people who voluntarily gathered inside to worship God, taking a willing 99% chance of surviving a virus to obey their Savior’s command to gather.
Since being put in prison, he has been sitting “in isolation in a cell block.” Just a few days later, the government has already tried him and handed down a sentence to prison for his high crimes and treason against sCiEnCe.
His wife Erin said the government “went for the jugular” and “tried him in secret.” She also said he must promise to “not pastor anymore” in order to be released, but that he is unwilling to do so.
This reminds me of a little thing spoken by a dude named Peter:
“Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”
And, after again being “strictly charged… not to teach in this name:”
“We must obey God rather than men.”
In response, the church wrote one of, if not the most, eloquent and hard-hitting statements on the pandemic, liberty, actual science, and theology of the past year.
Over the weekend, a large crowd turned out in Alberta for jailed pastor James Coates, who was imprisoned for defying the government’s COVID mandates:
The rally for Pastor James Coates. pic.twitter.com/6WIwbyy0uX
— Oma10 (@theresiasmith52) February 20, 2021
This message is directly to Premier @jkenney from the hundreds of protesters from all across the country outside of the Edmonton Remand Center this afternoon demanding the release of Pastor James Coates. https://t.co/UkRxTxfak3. pic.twitter.com/aFs7NYzcLI
— Sheila Gunn Reid (@SheilaGunnReid) February 20, 2021
Here’s what James’ wife, Erin, had to say:
Erin Coates, wife of jailed Canadian Pastor James Coates, spoke Saturday outside the jail where her husband is held for holding a church service. #FreeJamesCoates @randyhillier @ezralevant @joe_warmington @AndrewLawton @gbrowning101 @LauraLynnTT @MaximeBernier @TPostMillennial pic.twitter.com/pDTcLCq1N1
— Pastor Henry Hildebrandt (@aylmerpastor) February 21, 2021
Pastor John MacArthur also spoke out and led a prayer on behalf of James, who is a graduate of the Masters Seminary:
Our Chancellor John MacArthur on the unwavering resolve of our very own, Pastor James Coates. The faculty, staff, and students of The Master’s Seminary stand in solidarity with James and his church. pic.twitter.com/JHqZLN2XBv
— The Master's Seminary (@MastersSeminary) February 23, 2021
On Wednesday, Coates’s court date was set for May 3, meaning he may have to spend two more months in jail before he even gets a trial.
On Sunday, Pastor Coates’s church GraceLife continued worship with a full house and Pastor Jake Spenst in the pulpit.
This is a compilation of excerpts from 3 separate articles published by Not the Bee.
https://notthebee.com/article/the-first-canadian-pastor-was-just-jailed-and-told-he-must-not-preach-as-a-condition-of-his-release
https://notthebee.com/article/canadian-church-releases-an-insanely-eloquent-statement-on-liberty-and-covid-after-their-pastor-is-jailed-for-preaching
https://notthebee.com/article/massive-crowd-turns-out-for-canadian-pastor-imprisoned-for-lockdown-defiance