On January 22, 2021, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ordered that Trinity Bible Chapel and her elders not hold gatherings of more than 10 persons. Upon receiving the order, I invited the community to church on January 24:
People are lonely, afraid, despairing of life itself, and facing financial ruin, among many other deprivations and tribulations. This is all during the darkest and coldest season of the year. If ever our fellow Ontarians needed hope, it is now. Out of neighbourly love, I am personally openly inviting anyone and everyone to experience the hope of the Gospel and the warmth of Christian worship at Trinity Bible Chapel this Sunday during our two Lord’s Day services at 9:00 AM and 11:15 AM.
I noted, this was done in love for God and neighbour:
Risking reputation and financial viability to offer eternal hope and warm Christian fellowship to a world in despair is an act of love that I am certain Jesus smiles on.
That’s precisely what we did. Personally, I have never experienced a more palpable manifest presence of God’s Holy Spirit during public worship than I did on that Sunday. Many others – I have lost track of how many – shared similar experiences. Pastor Will Schuurman recounted his experience of that Lord’s Day on Twitter:
This past Sunday, heaven threw a party. Soli Deo Gloria! Update below 👇 pic.twitter.com/eW6uQZlCTz
— Will Schuurman (@wschuurman) January 27, 2021
Pastor Will later posted this:
“If you hadn’t opened the church in January, I don’t think I would have been saved!”
Another story of God’s amazing grace 👇👇 pic.twitter.com/RyCZu95SF2
— Will Schuurman (@wschuurman) February 4, 2021
On Sunday, February 21, we baptized 13 individuals, some of whom traced their conversion to those weeks in January, especially January 24.
This week the Ontario Superior Court of Justice handed down our sentence for having church on January 24. The service cost us $83,000. That is our fine, and here is how it breaks down. Pastor Will and I each owe $5,000. Pastor Randy owes $4,000. Each of the other elders owe $3,000. The church itself owes $15,000. And we have been ordered to pay $45,000 to cover the legal fees of the Ministry of the Attorney General. The Ministry of the Attorney General claims their lawyers spent 104 hours to prosecute us for holding services on January 24 – charges for which we pled guilty. Evidently, the MAG was very motivated, and the prosecutors worked tirelessly against our church. So that is a grand total of $83,000. These fines will not and cannot be appealed. They are final.
If you would like to help cover the costs please visit the Go Fund Me page that a member of our church setup (click here), but please note you will not receive a receipt for the Go Fund Me contributions. Money donated to the Go Fund Me can be used to cover all and any of these fines.
If you would like to make a larger contribution to our legal fund, you can donate to the church (click here and select legal fund), but please note that, while the church will provide a tax receipt, money donated to the church cannot be used to cover the fines of the individual elders or pastors. It can be used to cover church fines.
We remain grateful to the legal team at the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. They have been representing us pro bono throughout this ordeal. We ask that you please consider donating to them to support their ongoing advocacy for liberty (click here and select the “defending religious freedom” campaign).
We will pay $83,000 for having church on January 24. I could say it was the most extravagantly priced service I’ve ever held, but that would not be factual. Every service I’ve held has cost Christ His very own blood, which is worth infinitely more than any dollar amount.
I was heartened by something Pastor Steve Richardson recently pointed out. In reference to Matthew 26:6-13, he explained the anointing of Christ by Mary with the alabaster jar. The alabaster jar of ointment would have been worth the equivalent of a retirement savings. It was expensive, and that dear woman paid a lot of money for one quick act of worship. She thought Christ was worth it. The disciples, however, were “indignant, saying, ‘Why this waste? For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor?” Jesus defended her saying, “She has done a beautiful thing for me.” Chief among the woman’s accusers was Judas (John 12:4-5). The woman thought Christ was worth the money, but Judas thought He wasn’t. She went down in history for doing good, but Judas was a traitor who would have been better off not being born.
On January 24, we worshipped Christ extravagantly at the price of $83,000. He is worth that and so much more. Our fine is nothing near what Mary spent on Jesus for her one quick extravagant act of worship. And we cannot compare it to the price of blood He paid so that we would worship Him. As we’ve sung many times:
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
The most difficult thing to us is not the dollar value. Rather, we are troubled by how the court has perceived our actions as disrespectful. In his citation, the Honourable Justice noted the following:
“The position of the Contemnors appears to be as follows: we will abide as long as this does not go on too long, and if it does, we may not comply.”
“There is no apology or demonstration of remorse for the conduct of the case. The Contemnors assert that they are conflicted. However, they do not apologize for their breach of this Order.”
“There was no sincere apology, and as I have noted, there was no apology at all.”
“The Contemnors reject the authority of the court by their actions.”
To be absolutely clear, we respect the court and its authority. The Bible teaches us to honour all those in authority, and we do. But like all authority, the authority of our courts is derived. The court’s authority comes from above. “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God” (Romans 13:1). God has designed all authorities, courts included, as delegated powers. He has given them power, and that power must be held in high regard by all men.
Our offence is that we believe that God is our Supreme Authority, above and beyond all parliaments and courts. We agree with the preamble to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which reads, “Whereas Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law.” God is supreme. Jesus Christ is the King of kings and Lord of lords, and, I add, He is the Judge of judges. His Law is the rule of all law.
Christians, throughout history, have often found themselves conflicted when earthly rulers order them to do what God forbids or forbids them from doing what God commands. In such instances, we must obey God over government. We believe that the church must meet. We further believe that Christ, not the government, has crown rights over the church and His worship.
The enemies of Christ prosecuted him before a court on the charge that Christ claimed supremacy over Caesar (John 19:12). In essence, they claimed He held Caesar’s laws in contempt. The prosecutors won, and Christ was sentenced to crucifixion.
Early Christians suffered similar allegations. The message they preached was called “gospel” which means “good news.” Their proclamation was contemptuous to Caesar. “Good news” or “gospel” was how the Empire announced the birth or ascension of an emperor. By calling the message of Christ “gospel” Christ’s early disciples proclaimed that Christ is something better than Caesar. Christ is the Emperor of emperors, and the gospel proclaims that He is supreme over all kings and lords. Furthermore, the early Church articulated the simple doctrinal statement that “Jesus is Lord” (1 Corinthians 12:3; Romans 10:9; Philippians 2:11). By saying that they were saying that Caesar is not lord. Saying “Jesus is Lord” and acting on it was considered treasonous. The Roman Empire was totalitarian, and it did not offer Christians the opportunity to conscientiously dissent from Caesar’s claim as supreme lawgiver. For claiming that Jesus is Lord and with their proclamation of “gospel,” the early Christians were tried in courts. The courts found them guilty so they paid.
If Caesar had left them alone to self-govern, he would have found them to be his best citizens. After all, the New Testament admonishes us to “Honour the emperor” (1 Peter 2:17). But Caesar demanded more than honour. He wanted first place in their lives, and that was something they could not give him. First place is reserved for Christ. Christ has purchased us by His blood, and therefore Christ, not Caesar, owns us.
On a smaller scale, we at Trinity Bible Chapel find ourselves in a similar place. Proclaiming the “good news” of stopping the spread of a virus, our lawmakers have made laws that forbid what God commands and command what God forbids. The Ontario Superior Court of Justice ordered us to comply with those laws. We didn’t. Those laws violate our consciences because our consciences are held captive by Jesus. He is Lord, and He has the best good news. We acted on our consciences.
In our $83,000 act of worship, may King Jesus receive His crown rights and may He find a reward for His suffering.
If you would like to help cover the costs please visit the Go Fund Me page that a member of our church setup (click here), but please note you will not receive a receipt for the Go Fund Me contributions. Money donated to the Go Fund Me can be used to cover all and any of these fines.
If you would like to make a larger contribution to our legal fund, you can donate to the church (click here and select legal fund), but please note that, while the church will provide a tax receipt, money donated to the church cannot be used to cover the fines of the individual elders or pastors. It can be used to cover church fines.
We remain grateful to the legal team at the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. They have been representing us pro bono throughout this ordeal. We ask that you please consider donating to them to support their ongoing advocacy for liberty (click here and select the “defending religious freedom” campaign).
