LA County Clears John MacArthur's Church in Outbreak Probe, But Master's Seminary is Running Hot

Grace Community Church (GCC) has had their recent outbreak restrictions lifted by the LA County after three part-time associates and two staff members became ill with COVID, according to a press release on the Church website, but the County is saying, “Not so fast,” when it comes to whether or not the Sun Valley megachurch is complying.

The LA Times released a story a few weeks ago mired in hysterics, to which they claimed that an “outbreak” had occured at GCC. It was later revealed to have been three part-time associates, and then later two more staff.

Jenna Ellis, special counsel for the Church, said this at the time:

Three very mild positive tests among more than 7,000 people is hardly news. 0.0004 or 0.043% is not an ‘outbreak.’ The L.A. Times and others’ grossly misleading and fear-mongering headlines aim to mischaracterize Grace Community Church as irresponsible and a superspreader.

Now that several weeks have passed, GCC released a statement on their website, informing that the outbreak restrictions have been lifted:

Outbreak Restrictions Lifted

We are glad to announce that we received a notice from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health on Thursday, November 12, saying that we have been cleared of COVID-19 outbreak. After a thorough investigation, Public Health officials have decided to rescind all outbreak related requirements and restrictions on Grace Community Church.

We don’t exactly know what particular and specific precautions were being applied, but we do know that the Church is not complying with most previous restrictions, as they are still holding church services indoors, filled to capacity, and are not social distancing or wearing masks.

Warren Throckmorton reached out to LA County to get a comment on GCC’s news, and they sent this statement:

Public Health’s investigation into the Grace Community Church worksite COVID-19 outbreak was recently concluded. The Church is still required to follow all current Health Officer Order requirements for places of worship, which include outdoor services, as well as all applicable infection control protocols for all activities that occur on the Grace Community Church campus. Public Health has found that Sun Valley has among the higher rates of COVID-19 transmission in the County of Los Angeles. Compliance with the required infection control protocols by Grace Community Church will lessen the risk of COVID-19 transmission to its employees and visitors.

So even as the “outbreak” at Grace Church winds down, things are beginning to heat up at The Master’s University and Seminary- which is overseen by GCC. While not particularly as public as the Church itself, they have 14 cases between 130 staff and some 2100 students.