Did the Pandemic Rejuvenate Christianity?
Away from the Headlines, Believers Across California Scrambled to Adapt—And Underwent Some Startling Changes
Judging by news coverage, the only religion trend originating in California during the pandemic was of conservative evangelical COVID denialism and defiance.
One California church, South Bay United Pentecostal in Chula Vista, filed one of the earliest lawsuits contesting state-imposed restrictions on indoor worship, a case that ultimately reached the Supreme Court. Last summer, Grace Community Church, a decades-old Los Angeles megachurch led by an evangelical elder statesman named John MacArthur, sued to block county public health directives. MacArthur, who declared in one sermon, “There is no pandemic,” drew public …