Another COVID-19 Outbreak at John MacArthur’s Grace Community Church – UPDATED

UPDATE: LA County Department of Health informed me this afternoon (12/21) that “No additional outbreaks have been reported by Grace Community Church to Public Health since” the earlier employee related outbreak in October.

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Twitter user and Medium writer Modern Day Zorro posted a piece on Medium with news of another Grace Community Church COVID outbreak (there was one back in October). MDZ is close to GCC and has never been wrong with news on the church. (My question mark in the title is admittedly self-protective, and because I have not been able to get confirmation from Grace’s PR firm. – See the update below) Given the lack of mitigation measures and the ignorance about COVID which have been apparent at Grace, I don’t doubt the report. However, if corrections or modifications are needed, I will make them.

According to the Medium report, multiple Grace members and staff may be infected:

  1. Don’t take the vaccine as it’s just a money ploy.
  2. Grace is welcoming 400 new members.
  3. The giving is the best it’s ever been.
  4. There are no long-term side effects to COVID.
  • Yes <hits mic and blows into it> 7 people, elders and staff, have COVID symptoms and have subsequently tested positive as a direct result of going to a Staff Christmas party.

    While I await confirmation of specific numbers, I can note that one pastor at Grace, Will Varner, has tested positive for COVID and announced this publicly. He also said a musician affiliated with GCC’s Sojourners ministry tested positive.

Let’s not forget that MacArthur’s attorney Jenna Ellis tested positive for COVID-19.

As someone who has had COVID, I certainly wish the best for these folks. I post this because I sincerely doubt that certain church leaders at GCC will provide the congregation with appropriate information. At least, it hasn’t happened so far.

UPDATE: Julie Roys has an article out on Sunday with reporting that people at Grace are being discouraged from telling anyone about their COVID diagnosis.  She also has much more documentation of GCC members and staff who have COVID. It seems pretty clear that MacArthur’s rosy picture of a church meeting indoors without caution and without cases of COVID is false.

During church on Sunday morning, MacArthur did not comment on the cases identified by the sources noted above and by Julie Roys.

Another update from Modern Day Zorro:

MacArthur said everybody has a bug.

29 thoughts on “Another COVID-19 Outbreak at John MacArthur’s Grace Community Church – UPDATED”

  1. There have been several articles lately about the surge of Covid in Southern California in the New York Times, the Washington Post, LA Times and today in the Atlantic with no mention of mega churches like GCC who meet weekly with no social distancing or masks. Surely experienced journalists haven’t overlooked this church activity. I don’t think we can blame it all on Thanksgiving exposure. Is it just too politically incorrect to mention this?

  2. Oh, what infuriates me about MacArthur’s five statements is that every one of them are lies. But the one that infuriates me the most is the “There are no long-term side effects to COVID” statement. One of my dearest friends had COVID early (late February) and didn’t know she’d had it until much later because she’d presented with different symptoms: severe gut issues, massive rash and “COVID toes.” She now has postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) and there’s no way to know if she’e ever going to be able to get out of bed or stand up without her heart rate zooming to nearly 200 bpm. And this is just someone I personally know. There are others out there who have “long COVID” and I just want to smack John MacArthur silly for his nonsense.

  3. Looking through the comments on the story on the Roys blog I am the only one calling out the most obvious narcissism on JMac’s part. The blindness to this in our culture is just so very tragic. We love them, worship them, follow them, buy their garbage and vote for them. They rip us off all the way to the bank. They are the opposite of Jesus in all of their ways, and yet like lemmings we follow them as they lead us over a cliff. They lead us right into a ditch as Jesus plainly stated. If we could only turn all of this stuff off, stop watching their “entertainment” and really get back to hearing the Holy Spirit, who is our Teacher, then the church would start to turn around. As it is we have just made a mockery ourselves out of Christianity. So sad.

  4. You had COVID-19, Dr. Throckmorton? How did I miss that? I’m very glad you’re better, and I hope you escaped any lingering effects.Unfortunately, news of another outbreak of COVID-19 at John MacArthur’s church comes as no surprise at all. It’s too bad that the regulations in place don’t have enough teeth to order the doors nailed shut until the pandemic is over. EDITED TO ADD: Oops. The Supreme Court said they couldn’t do that, reaffirming their stand that principles mean more than human lives.

  5. I see there is an anti-vaccine element to GCC’s propaganda. That is contrary to (the masked) Pence’s public vaccination. Interesting (and depressing).

      1. It is most odd, isn’t it?! Is it an American problem? I get the impression that, in Western Europe, churches generally tend to be far less suspicious of scientific progress.

  6. It’s sad the members of this church cannot see that things like mask wearing are no different than Old Testament health and safety rules. The other bothersome thing I notice is the group at “Grace” is calling their little subgroup “Sojourners”. I think they should have to stop doing that- it’s giving the real Sojourners a really really bad name.

    1. From the online clipart strip Coffee with Jesus:
      LISA: Why did that guy who was handling rattlesnakes at his church have to die, Jesus?
      JESUS: Well, Lisa, because he was handling rattlesnakes at his church.
      LISA: But he said there was a verse in the Bible that says we can pick up snakes. He was acting in faith!
      JESUS: He was acting like a circus clown, Lisa. And he’s finally learned the lesson from that verse in the Bible that says not to test me.

      1. Yesterday evening I felt a bit guilty about having succumbed to my baser instincts and left this comment, to the extent that I was thinking about coming back this morning and deleting it. But now that you’ve replied, I guess I’ll leave it here 🙂

    2. There were possible reasonable explanations for John MacArthur’s motivations for defying California orders early on, but those explanations are no longer viable now that it has been revealed that he is lying and manipulating people to hide the fact that people within the church have contracted and spreading the virus. The Lord would never call his servants to lie.

      The fact that John MacArthur hasn’t contracted COVID in spite of what he is doing is an act of God’s mercy. It’s an opportunity for him to repent. Mercy can often be misinterpreted as consent.

      I’ve seen many who experienced God’s favor go beyond the “point of no return” in unrepentant sin. Although none of use really know what the point is for any particular person or situation, it seems like MacArthur has gone beyond that point. I pray that he would repent while there is still time.

      1. IMHO, the fact that John MacArthur hasn’t contracted COVID in spite of what he is doing is the result of nothing more than dumb luck. Unfortunately, not everyone at GCC has been so lucky.

      2. IMHO, the fact that John MacArthur hasn’t contracted COVID in spite of what he is doing is the result of nothing more than dumb luck. Unfortunately, not everyone at GCC has been so lucky.

    3. Amen. One of his right hand henchmen, Travis Allen (who organized his laughable Strange Fire conference), invited me to Easter dinner with his family in 2015. Then he actually kicked me out of his car for refusing to deny that Jesus came to me in a glorious amazing dream when I was 18 (I ate McDonald’s that Easter). These men idolize John MacArthur, who’s nothing but a cult leader, who profanes the blood of Christ, and says it doesn’t save us, and says yiu can take the mark and still be saved. And he clearly takes from the Word of God in Job 33, that He DOES come to us in dreams and visions, to turn our souls back from the pit, as He did ME.

    4. Amen. One of his right hand henchmen, Travis Allen (who organized his laughable Strange Fire conference), invited me to Easter dinner with his family in 2015. Then he actually kicked me out of his car for refusing to deny that Jesus came to me in a glorious amazing dream when I was 18 (I ate McDonald’s that Easter). These men idolize John MacArthur, who’s nothing but a cult leader, who profanes the blood of Christ, and says it doesn’t save us, and says yiu can take the mark and still be saved. And he clearly takes from the Word of God in Job 33, that He DOES come to us in dreams and visions, to turn our souls back from the pit, as He did ME.

  7. I have a family member who is a follower of JMac. Doesn’t go to his main church but very much follows his teaching. So I keep tabs on his group pretty regularly. So this does not surprise me. They’ve been meeting in person inside for months, in defiance of court rulings, governors orders, and common sense. The only thing that’s surprising to me is that this didn’t happen sooner. Probably a contributing factor is that the church is largely white and upper middle class — a demographic that has enough privilege and wealth to insulate itself from risk of infection if it chooses to do so.

    1. Yes, probably a great many people of the white and upper middle class variety are working from home right now (yeah, like me). So they don’t have to go out and work in a supermarket or drug store or as a nurse or care worker or whatever. But going to church and getting squished in, that’s just a recipe for sickness.

      1. Yes. The pandemic has definitely highlighted the disparities in wealth and social privilege. My whole immediate family has been able to work from home (so far at least) and I try to stay conscious of and grateful for our ability to do so. Part of that is always doing my best to protect retail and other workers when I do have to venture out and interact. I would never willfully put myself or others at risk as MacArthur and so many of his congregation has done. That is the antithesis of loving God and neighbor. Horrific and shameful.

  8. Currently my church is “open”. It’s not supposed to be. Current pastor is a big fan of JMac… I know we have had cases in the congregation. I just wonder who needs to die before they get a clue.
    Warren, I’m very sorry you had COVID, and I hope you are okay!

    1. Then stay out of that church for the duration of the pandemic.

      They’re playing Russian Roulette with the virus and will want you to join in or else.

      My church (RCC) livestreamed all its services during the earlier shutdown and continues to livestream every Sunday on their YouTube channel. They actually tell you to stay home and watch the livestream if you are high-risk in any way whatsoever. And the Mass I saw on stream today had a LONG list of Prayers for the Sick. Including our Bishop who definitely has COVID.

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