After a state court issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting Calvary Chapel in San Jose from holding indoor services for its 1,800 members, Pastor Mike McClure violated the mandate.
“Pastor McClure feels he's called to continue to keep the church doors open,” said attorney Mariah Gondiero, who represents the church. “No one's been harmed and the church has been a lifeline for a lot of people. The governor’s orders allow essential businesses to open up and the one industry that should definitely be considered essential is the church because they're a helpline for so many people.”
As a result of violating the order, however, McClure is facing contempt of court charges on Jan. 28 at 1:30 p.m. before Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Peter Kirwan.
“Because the temporary restraining order is a court order, the court is seeking to hold him in contempt,” Gondiero told the Southern California Record. “The judge can order jail time or just fines and sanctions but the judge was clear at a hearing last week that jail time isn't on the table.”
Under the state's Blueprint for a Safer Economy, Tier 1, also known as the purple zone, is the most restrictive of all tiers and zones. Santa Clara is classified under Tier 1, which bans indoor church services.
“Vaccinations don’t change a whole lot of the analysis,” Gondiero said in an interview. “Their argument is that indoor gatherings increase the spread of COVID-19. That's their main argument that singing and gathering is one of the worst things you can do and that COVID-19 is spread through the droplets.”
While the county of Santa Clara sued Calvary Chapel and has fined the pastor more than $1 million for defying public health orders banning indoor events, Newsweek reported that the church received some $340,000 in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds.
“When the court granted the temporary restraining order that then granted a preliminary injunction, we appealed the preliminary order that granted the preliminary injunction,” Gondiero said. “It's so hard to say what's going to happen next because these types of cases take a long time to settle. You have to exhaust appeals. I think this is just going to be a very long process.”
Calvary Chapel San Jose sued Santa Clara County in the Northern District of California federal court, seeking damages for violations of constitutional rights and violations of religious liberties.
“We’re challenging the county's actions under the 8th Amendment and specifically the County Board of Supervisors, which authorized this ordinance that allows the County to fine the church $5,000 per violation,” Gondiero added. “With fines well over a million dollars, the argument is that it's cruel and unusual punishment.”
Calvary Church San Jose isn’t the only religious institution struggling to remain open. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied Harvest Rock Church’s challenge to a regional ban on indoor worship services on Jan. 25 while ruling in favor of the Pasadena house of worship’s challenge to Tiers 2 and 3 of the Blueprint, which maintains a 100 and 200 person limit, respectively.