CENTRAL, La. (Reuters) – The pastor of the Life Tabernacle Church near Baton Rouge held services on Sunday in defiance of a stay-at-home order issued by Louisiana because of the coronavirus pandemic, informing worshippers they had “absolutely nothing to fear however fear itself.”
Local homeowners leave Sunday service at the Life Tabernacle megachurch challenging state orders against putting together in big groups as the spread of coronavirus illness (COVID-19) continues in Baton Rouge, Louisiana U.S., April 5,2020 REUTERS/Carlos Barria
Pastor Tony Spell, who was detained recently for holding services, summoned his faithful once again, 3 weeks after the state’s guv, John Bel Edwards, prohibited events of 10 people or more.
Numerous worshippers, about half of them black and half white, assembled on the church, lots of getting here in 26 buses sent out to pick them up. Everybody but immediate family members kept a social distanc