UPDATE!
Earlier this month, we alerted you to a Canadian pastor who had been arrested and placed in jail for holding church services after the government ordered him to cease.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have been holding GraceLife Church Pastor James Coates since March 15, after he refused to agree to a bail release condition that he stop holding church services. Pastor Coates remained firm in his religious conviction to obey God rather than man.
Since that time, the government's prosecutors have agreed to release Pastor Coates and withdraw all but one of the charges against him. That one charge is for allowing more than 15% of his church members to attend Sunday worship services.
According to Pastor Coates' attorneys, he is expected to be released today and will be challenging the remaining charge in court in May, forcing the government to prove why it has the right to limit congregational worship.
Pastor Coates is a hero of the faith and deserves our continued support and prayers. Rather than go away quietly, Pastor Coates will continue to challenge the government's immoral laws threatening religious freedom.
Original Alert:
Pastor James Coates is a faithful pastor and follower of God. As a result, he ended up in jail.
Pastor Coates leads GraceLife Church in Alberta, Canada. When the government issued edicts that limited the free exercise of worship with overbearing COVID-19 restrictions, he chose to follow Christ.
In true Gestapo form, government officials attended one of the church's services in February and then charged the pastor with violating an order to shut down the church by the end of January.
According to Breitbart, Pastor Coates turned himself in, but rejected an offer by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to release him from jail if he promised to stop holding church services on Sunday.
As of today, Pastor Coates remains in prison, but has an appeal hearing pending. He is being represented by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, which defends the constitutional and religious freedoms of Canadians.
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