Pasadena Church Sings Worship in Defiance of Governor’s Order

[UPDATED] Pasadena’s Harvest Rock Church echoed with the sounds of worship songs Sunday as members sang, in violation of the governor’s COVID-19 guidance, hours before a federal judge rejected the organizations filing to seek an emergency order to block of policy, which it calls unconstitutional.

The church took legal action last week in response to a ban on singing and chanting at houses of worship issued earlier this month by Gov. Gavin Newsom as a measure to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

On Sunday, as they awaited their day before a judge, church members and leaders raised their voices in harmony as they appealed to a higher authority.

Harvest Rock Senior Pastor Ché Ahn discussed the motion before diving into his sermon, which was streamed online.

When attorneys from the organization Liberty Counsel approached Harvest Rock and asked if they were interested in being a plaintiff in a case against the governor, Ahn said he didn’t hesitate to jump to the defense of the church, religious freedom and the U.S. Constitution.

“The overreach has been so egregious, by him mandating in July that we can’t even sing,” the pastor said. “That’s unprecedented. Never in the history of America has an elected official told the church how to worship.”

“It was a tremendous violation of our 1st Amendment rights,” he said.

Under the recently enacted state policy, “Places of worship must therefore discontinue indoor singing and chanting activities and limit indoor attendance to 25% of building capacity or a maximum of 100 attendees, whichever is lower,” according to the state guidelines.

The church’s lawsuit sought to have the policy blocked through an emergency restraining order and injunction.

“We are contending for an injunction that will give us freedom to meet,” Ahn said.

But U.S. District Court Judge Otis Wright wrote in his Monday ruling that Harvest Rock failed to provide notice to Newsom of either its lawsuit or motion for a TRO, and did not meet the “stringent” requirements to obtain an emergency TRO without notice.

The judge ordered that the defendants be served with the complaint and motion no later than July 27 and gave Newsom until Aug. 3 to file a response.

In Harvest Rock’s Sunday service, Ahn addressed the matter, asking congregants to pray to win the court case and what he said was a battle against the “demonic forces trying to shut down the church in America.”

There was no immediate response to emails sent to Newsom’s press office or to a church attorney seeking comment.

The pastor said he was not expecting the widespread attention the case has garnered in recent days.

“Then the press showed up this morning at church. I didn’t expect that at all,” he said.

The attorneys working on behalf of the church are providing their services for free,” he added.

He said that he was prepared to take the fight all the way to the Supreme Court.

“God asked us to take a stand,” Ahn said.