American Family Association Supports Pastor’s Religious Liberty Lawsuit Against Virginia’s COVID-19 Church Invasion
‘To Preserve Religious Liberty in America, Prepare To Defend Yourselves’
TUPELO, Miss. — A Virginia pastor who until last week was facing jail time and a $2,500 fine for holding services during the coronavirus pandemic is suing the state for violating his religious liberty, drawing support from the American Family Association (AFA, www.afa.net).
Kevin Wilson, pastor of Lighthouse Fellowship Church, defied Gov. Ralph Northam’s order to limit religious gatherings to 10 people by allowing 16 worshippers into his 293-seat sanctuary on April 5. Officers interrupted the worship service to issue a summons that threatened a fine and incarceration.
AFA — along with the U.S. Justice Department and Vice President Mike Pence — has expressed support for Wilson’s religious liberty suit against Virginia. AFA Executive Vice President Ed Vitagliano says the abuse of power suffered by Wilson and his congregation reflects a deep-seated prejudice against Christianity in American culture.
“While the vast majority of Americans have been struggling to cope with the challenges presented by Covid-19, something else has become very clear: the latent hostility of the secularist left,” Vitagliano said. “The virulent anti-Christian bigotry in our nation has been eye-opening. For police in Virginia to rush into a church and charge a pastor with a crime for holding a worship service makes it stunningly clear that the God-haters were merely waiting for their chance to pounce. Those with a mind to preserve religious liberty in America, prepare to defend yourselves.”
During the period in which Wilson was served the summons, Northam was encouraging mass protests and holding press conferences that did not abide by a 10-person limit, according to Mat Staver, Wilson’s lawyer and the founder of Liberty Counsel.
The Department of Justice submitted a statement of interest in support of Lighthouse Fellowship Church on May 3.
“This case raises issues of national public importance regarding the interplay between the government’s compelling interest in protecting public health and safety from COVID-19 and citizens’ fundamental right to the free exercise of religion,” the DOJ statement asserted. “There is no pandemic exception to the Constitution and its Bill of Rights.”
The charges against Wilson were dropped on July 10.
View the media page for AFA here. For more information on American Family Association, visit www.afa.net or follow AFA on Facebook or Twitter @AmericanFamAssc.
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Dobson: Spiritual Awakening or Else? America Needs Revival at ‘The Return’
Mass Movement Gains Momentum as Household Names Endorse Christian Resurgence Marching to Washington, D.C.
NEW YORK — The ancient city of Nineveh narrowly escaped judgment because its citizens heeded God’s call to repent of its worship of men and manmade things — and the United States is similarly poised for either rebellious destruction or religious revival, according to the internationally renowned Christian leaders of “The Return: National and Global Day of Prayer and Repentance.”
“The Return” is a mass movement of individual believers and entire churches devoted to praying for Americans to repent and return to the God of the Bible. On Sept. 26 at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Christians will from across the country come together to worship, hear from influential speakers, and pray for a new Great Awakening for the country.
Dr. James Dobson, (Pictured above) founder of Family Talk and the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute, serves as a board member and upcoming speaker for “The Return.”
Dobson says America’s suffering, broken homes and decaying social structures are the natural consequences of a half-century of godless violence against the unborn.
“This moral degeneracy has resulted in shattered families, public schools that are corrupting our young, and seething hostility to the institution of marriage,” Dobson wrote in a July newsletter. “God’s holy name has been reduced to a sacrilege. A centerpiece of this evil world is the abortion industry which has murdered 60 million babies whom the Creator was knitting together in their mothers’ wombs. Their blood calls out to the Creator from the ground in which they lie.”
But the God of the Bible — and of millions of Americans — is faithful to preserve a remnant by calling His people to repentance, such as through “The Return: National and Global Day of Prayer and Repentance.”
“That brings me to the most encouraging news I have to share with you. There is a huge event scheduled to occur on September 26th of this year. It is being called ‘The Return,’ Dobson wrote. “While it often appears that Western Civilization as we have known it is in its closing days, there are millions of Christians in this country who love Jesus and are praying fervently for a spiritual renewal. I am convinced that their plaintive pleas are being heard in heaven.”
The God of the Bible is a God of mercy. Just as in the case of Nineveh, when people humbly cry out in true repentance, He hears them and can bring revival.
Dobson says the future of the United States depends on what the American church does right now.
“Everything that made America great in these 244 years hangs in the balance,” Dobson wrote. “When I am tempted to despair, I remember that God is in control. Let’s continue to ask Him to bring a mighty spiritual reawakening that will restore our beloved nation to its spiritual roots and draw us to Himself.”
“The Return” is for all believers who love the Lord from all denominations and backgrounds. Leaders already on board with “The Return” include Jonathan Cahn and Kevin Jessip (co-chairs), Mike Lindell, Michele Bachmann, Pat Boone, Mark Gonzales, Robert Morris, Marcus Lamb, John Kilpatrick, Pierre Bynum, Gen. William Boykin, Carter Conlon, Bishop Harry Jackson, Alveda King, Anne Graham Lotz, Pat and Gordon Robertson, Kevin and Sam Sorbo, Stephen E. Strang, E.W. Jackson and many more supporters listed at thereturn.org/faith-leaders/.
Co-chairs of “The Return” Jonathan Cahn and Kevin Jessip have recorded a special video about the event, which already has over a million views. Watch here.
“The Return” is set for 40 days before the presidential election, and on the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower, in the days of America’s founding and dedication to God. Surrounding the “The Day of Return” on Sept. 26 at the Washington Mall will be 10 days, known from ancient times as the Days of Awe, to be set as a special time of prayer and repentance from Sept. 18-28.
Coordinated events within “The Return” movement will also take place throughout America’s cities, towns, houses of worship and homes, as well as in multiple countries around the world, as many believe the nation has been given a critical window of opportunity to repent and return to God.
Visit “The Return” at www.TheReturn.org to register and learn more. Follow “The Return” on social media at Facebook: @ReturnEvent2020; Twitter: @2020_Return; and Instagram: @The_Return2020.
