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Less than a week after a Parkland County church was charged as an entity for breaching COVID-19 public health orders, GraceLife Church held another packed service Sunday morning and authorities did not intervene.
Two RCMP police officers, along with one Alberta Health Services employee, were parked in police cruisers off the church property prior to the service. They did not enter the church property or engage with churchgoers and left about half an hour after the service began.
“The whole idea of this is to keep the peace and make sure nothing escalates,” RCMP Const. Gord Marshall said.
Two men from the church came out to speak with police.
“We just want to make sure everybody’s safe and goes home safe at the end of the day,” another RCMP officer was heard saying. The two men said they did not have a comment for media.
A livestream of the services showed musicians and singers performing without masks or barriers in place.
Pastor Jacob Spenst opened the service by reading jailed Pastor James Coates, who is in expected to remain in custody until his trial May 3 to 5.
Hundreds of churchgoers defied Alberta government pandemic health restrictions and flocked to GraceLife Church on March 14, 2021. Photo by Larry Wong /Postmedia
