Police stopped an evangelical church from having their baptism service which broke the national coronavirus lockdown restrictions.
Thirty church members were gathered at The Angel Church in north London on Sunday to have their planned baptism service. This was cut short as the police came to shut everything down.
Pastor Regan King wanted to go ahead with the baptism despite of the restriction as he “served a greater good”.
There were two police vans and a police car outside the church’s Mount Zion Hall building in Clerkenwell. At the same time there were four police men standing at the entrance to stop people from entering.
Pastor Regan said : “We were told not to have a baptism and police began to block people from entering the church, so we decided to make other arrangements.
“There were 20 people here initially and it built up to about 30.”
When Pastor Regan was questioned about why he went ahead with the service, he said: “Because I believe we serve a greater good. We have a greater good than whatever this is.”
The pastor also mentioned that he didn’t want the police to come.
“This is an essential service that we provide. It’s about loving our neighbour, and you can talk with a number of people here who are extremely vulnerable, homeless or on the verge of being very isolated.”
Eventually, 15 members were allowed to stay in the church, whiles 15 others had to join a socially distanced service outdoors.
One of the members said: “While the restrictions allow people to go to the supermarket to get food, I think there needs to be consideration for spiritual food as well.”
Worshippers outside prayed for the “police, press and the people who wanted to shut down the meeting”.
The spokesman of the Metropolitan Police said: “Officers explained that due to Covid-19, restrictions are in place preventing gatherings and that financial penalties can be applied if they are breached.
“The pastor agreed not to proceed with the baptism or the in-person indoor service.
“A brief socially-distanced outdoor gathering was held instead which was agreed to by officers as a sensible compromise in the circumstances.
“A support group for vulnerable adults was permitted to proceed as normal as it was in line with the relevant legislation.”
Source: Premier Christian News