Pastor says he won't close church after COVID-19 outbreak infected 74 members

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Source: ABC News

Returning to the pulpit after a COVID-19 outbreak infected him, his wife and 72 members of their congregation, the senior pastor of an Oregon church said Sunday that he will not kowtow to pressure to close the doors to the house of worship.

Pastor Scott Erickson of the Peoples Church in Salem, Oregon, began his Mother's Day sermon by addressing the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in his church and throughout the state.

“In the last several days, it is apparent that voices in our community and region want the church of Jesus Christ to be quiet and to be closed," Erickson told those in attendance at the church and others watching a livestream online broadcast. “Not us, not here, not now. That’s not what we’re doing."

Peoples Church was among 10 churches in Oregon that joined together to file a lawsuit in May 2020 asking the Baker County Circuit Court to issue a temporary restraining order blocking Oregon Gov. Kate Brown from enforcing stay-at-home executive regulations against churches. The lawsuit argued that Brown's restrictions on churches violated constitutional protections for religious freedom.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/pastor-says-he-wont-close-church-after-covid-19-outbreak-infected-74-members/ar-BB1gxNi7?ocid=DELLDHP&li=BBnb7Kz

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If you die it was Gawd's will. - Pastor Erickson

[Fullduplexxx]

1. But if you kill others then you have sinned

[keithbvadu2]

2. Cash flow is sacred.

Cash flow is sacred.

[Judi Lynn]

5. What would happen if his congregation did show up, but left their wallets at home?

Would he be just as glad to see them "worshipping" with him?



"Pastor" Scott Erickson

[keithbvadu2]

11. Big money preachers have a genuine fear that folks can discover that they do not need continuous con

Big money preachers have a genuine fear that folks can discover that they do not need continuous contact to be faithful.

More personal contact equals more cash flow.

[TreasonousBastard]

3. Jesus didn't come back for the religious wars in Europe, witch burnings in Salem, Inquisition...

or any of the other dreadful things his subjects have committed in His name.

Do ya think if there really is a Jesus, he just doesn't give a shit about us any more?

[roamer65]

4. Doors should have been locked and no one allowed out for 14 days.

Supplies, food and water provided of course.

[royable]

28. No supplies, food or water either. God will provide. n/t

[JohnnyRingo]

6. The collection plate gets pretty light on Zoom.

As it does when ignorance keeps the pews full during a pandemic.

[3Hotdogs]

22. Yeah, but dead people don't put no money in the collection, either.

Even them that died from the Rona.

[COL Mustard]

37. I Guess Their Faith Wasn't Strong Enough Then

If they had been TRULY faithful, they'd have been protected!!!

[NullTuples]

30. No - or at least it doesn't have to.

There are plenty of progressive churches who have made it work just fine.

[Evolve Dammit]

7. The flock will heed the call of the preacher. They are that stupid. nt

[Hekate]

8. I am tempted to say: Let God sort them out.

Idiots.

[tanyev]

9. Gonna be the Not As Many Peoples Church in a few weeks.

[JI7]

10. Religion is a money making scam for so many

[niyad]

12. If the congregation will not close this cash cow for him, then they deserve whatever befalls them.

Unfortunately, they will carry this plague into the community.

[peppertree]

14. And he can do this thanks to the Handmaid's decisive vote last Nov. in Cuomo vs. Brooklyn Diocese

Which, you'll recall, held that congregation limit orders on religious buildings is a First Amendment violation - public health be damned.

This, of course, from the very justices trying to undo First Amendment protections for just about everything else.

[niyad]

17. It does boggle the mind.

[peppertree]

24. Brings to mind a recent SC case in Argentina, which similarly nixed school crowding prevntion orders

The justices that issued that order, did so via Zoom and from the comfort - and safety - of their own homes.

Goes to show that Trumpian insanity is proving to be just as contagious as Covid itself (God help us all).

[NullTuples]

31. There was a time when an epidemic was the one time personal liberty could be curtailed

By the government in the name of public safety. It was sort of THE classic example.

[peppertree]

39. Hear, hear.

Frankly, I'm convinced at this point that Repugs WANT this to spread.

The see what everyone else sees that, for the U.S. at least, there's finally light at the end of the tunnel on this Covid crisis - and they hate it.

Their plan is to be able to flood the zone in the Summer of 2022 with ads caterwauling about how "Biden failed on Covid; he failed on his promises" (insert ominous woman's voice).

And they want to make sure he does - lives be damned.

[peppertree]

13. "Praise the Lawd!" - yelled the coronaviruses.

[lees1975]

15. Another church that doesn't believe the Bible it preaches

and needs to take a look at the parts of it they're ignoring, like Philippians 2:1-4 They aren't even looking after the interests of their own congregation, much less the interests of others.

[Claire Oh Nette]

18. Wasn't leprosy a thing in old Judea?

I don't remember the lepers having the option to live in the leper colony. But masks and vaccines are tyranny. How did that go, again??

[wnylib]

23. This pastor perverts the very meaning of the word pastor.

WWJI? Who would Jesus infect?

He is practicing egotism, not faith.

[atreides1]

35. Interesting

But, do any of them actually believe ion the teachings of the Bible, anymore? From what I've seen and heard, the Bible is more likely used as a door stop then as a teaching tool!!!

Conservative "Christians" stopped believing in the Bible when they discovered that turning the other cheek didn't fill the offering plates...

[Claire Oh Nette]

16. Zero to do with what goes on in that building.

Erickson's choice of employment (grift) has nothing to do with why it's a Public Health threat.

"it is apparent that voices in our community and region want the church of Jesus Christ to be quiet and to be closed,"

Except we don't want anything of the kind. We want to shut down a disease vector.

The flock won't venmo or paypal?

[BradAllison]

19. Sounds like a cult n/m

[PatrickforB]

20. So twisted. nt

[Skittles]

21. "pro-lifer"

[jalan48]

25. What a pompous and ignorant fuck.

[Blue Owl]

26. The Lord's Work* must go on

*Pastor Erickson’s Delusion

[GReedDiamond]

27. TAX THE CHURCHES!

And I say that as an ordained Dudeist priest of The Church of the Latter-Day Dude.

FYI, I do weddings and shit.

I never actually have done a wedding, but, you know, I probably would.

[Mike Nelson]

32. Yikes!

... this "pastor" sounds satanic. Maybe some good religious people will call to enlighten him...

[mwb970]

33. It's always religious people. Always.

[bucolic_frolic]

34. Giving tangential support to the right to die, refuse medical treatment, even suicide

These people are dense as granite

[packman]

36. REname their church "Body of the Infected Idiots"

Not much miracle healing going on there, was it?

[apnu]

38. "God's will" right? (nt)

[Akoto]

40. God doesn't care what roof you're under when you pray. It's a perk of omniscience. n/t

[Wild blueberry]

41. Grifter gotta grift