tim stephens – Page 2

Breaking: Arrested Canadian Pastor Tim Stephens To Be Released from Jail Tonight

Incarcerated Canadian Pastor Tim Stephens will be released from jail tonight, according to a statement by the Justice Center for Constitutional Freedoms. Stephens has spent two days in prison on account of refusing to close his church and do online services, violating Alberta’s lockdown orders which prohibits a church gathering of more than 15 people. [Or FIVE outside. What’s up with that? -Ed.]

Alberta Health and Services (AHS) had Stephens arrested on the 16th in front of his wife and children after the Sunday service. Like Pastor James Coates, he was offered bail on Monday but refused to sign any conditions that required him to limit his services, resulting in being held a prisoner of conscience.

AHS Lawyer Kyle Fowler was adamant, however, that Stephens either stay in jail or have some mechanism in place that if he gathers again this coming Sunday, he will be imprisoned and confined.

Before his arrest, Stephens had drawn up a series of “Letters to Hand out Upon my Arrest” and gave them to his wife Raquel and children of whom he has eight (ages 5 months to 12 years) with part of the letter to his little ones saying:

I have been arrested because I am convinced by the word of God, reason, and science, that we must gather as a church and live our lives with freedom in Christ. You know how we have sought to continue to follow Scripture this past year: to practice hospitality, to meet together (and all the more in difficult times), to speak the truth, and live according to the truth.

Earlier in the day, there had been doubt that Tim would be released. His wife, Raquel, explained about the conditionality of his release, and asked the saints to pray that he comes home to them.

From what we understand, much of this is tied to a May 6 injunction for which AHS has applied. It grants police officers in the province the power to immediately arrest any citizen breaking the shutdown order. Once in jail, anyone being held would not be released until they promised to abide by the health orders. This injunction was later amended on May 13 to only apply to Whistle Stop Café in Mirror, Alberta, a cafe that refused to shut down and stop serving people.

Though the government is trying to bind him to a May 6 injunction, it simply no longer applies to him, argues Stephen’s lawyer Leighton Grey. He says that even if it DID apply to him, he was never served with it in the first place. He said this in court according to eyewitness testimony

This is a…vexatious hopeless application…Pastor Stephens cannot have committed contempt of an order that precedes May 13th amendments…His Charter rights are being violated…I don’t understand why Alberta Health Services is beating this drum…I don’t understand why it’s necessary for Alberta Health Services to demand this man be bound by conditions that require him comply with the May 6 order.

John Carpay, President of the Justice Centre, says that “The May 6 injunction does not apply to Pastor Stephens, nor did it apply to him at the time of his arrest. His arrest and current detention are illegal.”

This is a developing story…

Video: Another Canadian Pastor Arrested and Thrown In Jail (Updated)

Update #1: James Coates’ lawyer, James Kitchen, responding to Calgary Police Service Statement, says that Pastor Stephens was never served with a copy of the court order and that Alberta Health Services is straight-up lying.

A third Alberta Pastor has been arrested and thrown in jail on account of breaking pandemic gathering rules, which limit church services to 15 people inside, or 5 people outside. [Where is “the science” on that? -Ed.]

Pastor Tim Stephens of Fairview Baptist Church in Caglary, Alberta, follows Pastor James Coates and Pastor Artur Pawlowski in being arrested for violating a a Court of Queen’s Bench Order that requires organizers of events to comply with public health restrictions.

Tim Stephens, a reserved man with 8 children, was arrested following the church service Sunday. He hugged his family and friends before being led away and put into a police car, surrounded by a half-dozen officers and multiple police vehicles. There is no word yet on how long he is being incarcerated for or if he’s being allowed to post bail.

For weeks Stephens has indicated that he will not comply with these health orders, writing on the church website:

Restricting the church to 15 people — which essentially restricts the church from gathering — is against the will of Christ and against the conscience of many who desire to worship the Lord of glory according to his word. Our actions are borne out of theological commitments to the Lordship of Christ and his instruction to the church as revealed in Scripture…The consequences may be severe. But we stand before Christ rather than bend before consequences.

In a public statement, Calagry Police say that they have “received repeated calls from concerned citizens regarding church services held at Fairview Baptist Church over the past several weeks,” and that after being served an injunction and told to stop, “the Pastor acknowledged the injunction, but chose to move forward with today’s service, ignoring requirements for social distancing, mask-wearing and reduced capacity limits for attendees.”

When asked last week by Rebel News what happens next, Stephens was reflective but unbowed.

It’s not the civil magistrate’s job, the government’s job to regulate or restrict our worship and so we’re really coming together as peaceful citizens to worship Christ because he is worthy. In terms of what that means, now I don’t really know. The government has obviously turned up the heat on churches trying to discourage them from gathering together. I think they don’t understand that Christians are committed to follow the Lord Jesus Christ regardless of the consequence.

Pray for this man, his family, and the church.

Bonus content: These are the first minutes of last week’s sermon, where Pastor Tim explains why their gather for worship even when it is outlawed by the governing authorities. A primer for un-arrested pastors everywhere.