Pastors In Jail Part 1 with Pastor James Coates, Pastor Tim Stephens, and Dr. Joe Boot

On this show we are talking about pastors who have been imprisoned in Canada for breaching health protocols.

Both governments and churches have walked off their maps since early 2020, when efforts to curb the health impacts of Covid-19 first began. Health protocols and policies have varied from province to province and changed constantly.

In early 2021, the Alberta government increased restrictions on church gatherings at that time in the province. Many complied, but some leaders felt that the measures were doing more harm to their congregations than good.

One such leader was Pastor James Coates from GraceLife Church in Edmonton, Alberta. He and his leadership team, as a matter of personal conscience and conviction, actually breached the health protocols. This landed Pastor Coates in jail, and led to the eventual lockdown of his church building by the Alberta government.

Following this, Pastor Tim Stephens from Fairview Baptist Church in Calgary, was also arrested in front of his small children at his home after allegedly violating public health restrictions and failure to comply with a court order that was never actually received. He is expected to be before the courts with his case in the spring of 2022.

These pastors, along with others across the nation, represent a spectrum of theological perspectives, but all have one in thing common, in that they are conducting themselves in accordance to their personal conscience, and standing on section two of the Canadian Charter, which protects freedom of religion and conscience in Canada.

Pastor James and Pastor Tim join us to update and discuss what has been happening with their cases. Dr. Joe Boot from the Ezra Institute also joins us to give commentary.

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