Breaking! Pastor James Coates to Be Released From Prison as Crown Withdraws Charges
The Justice Centre announced today that the Crown Prosecutors in the Gracelife Church case have agreed to withdraw all but one of the Public Health Act offenses that Pastor James Coates has been charged with. According to a Justice Center for Consitiutitional Freedoms press release,
“The Justice Centre expects Pastor Coates will be released from jail in the coming days, without any conditions, pending his May 3-5 trial in Provincial Court.
The Justice Centre will defend Pastor Coates on one remaining charge of violating an Order of the Chief Medical Officer of Health by challenging the lawfulness of the public health order that he is charged with violating.”…
With the bulk of the criminal charges being withdrawn, all Pastor Coates will have to pay is a $100 fine for breaching the condition. The lone charge has not been withdrawn, however, as the Justice Centre and Pastor Coates want the matter to proceed to trial so that the constitutionality of the public health order can be determined.
Right now churches may only hold worship at 15% capacity, and their goal is to compel the government of Alberta to produce scientific evidence that supports their ongoing restrictions and curtailment of their Charter freedoms.
This is a developing story…
About Author
Great!
Praise God!
This is good news but it got me thinking about how shocking the whole situation really is.
At first, I was alarmed that a pastor in North America would be imprisoned for preaching, and that is alarming.
But then I realized the thing that’s truly shocking is how so few “conservative evangelicals” with influential platforms use their voice to bring awareness to this egregious violation against our rights, and more importantly, the Church.
James Coates isn’t some wacko pastor with strange theology promoting his own “brand of me”, he’s a regular pastor trying to be faithful to God and his flock. I would think the fact that this is happening in Canada (as opposed to some 3rd world country openly hostile to Christians) would set off some kind of alarm in North America but it seems most of the evangelical leaders have decided they like their “important seats” and “respectful greetings” more than addressing issues that could get them cancelled.