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Thread: Colorado AG Serves Cease and Desist Order to Andrew Wommack Event

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    Colorado AG Serves Cease and Desist Order to Andrew Wommack Event


    Colorado AG Serves Cease and Desist Order to Andrew Wommack Event
    By John Melton Published on July 8, 2020
    Colorado AG Serves Cease and Desist Order to Andrew Wommack Event | The Stream

    Despite taking every single COVID-related precaution recommended by local officials, Andrew Wommack Ministries received a cease and desist order from the office of Colorado's Attorney General ... right in the middle of their annual, week-long Summer Family Bible Conference. The final day, July 4th, included a musical tribute to America called In God We Trust, featuring "The Star-Spangled Banner" and the Gettysburg Address. The local sheriff's department provided a color guard.

    Prior to the event, Wommack and his executive team met with local public health and law enforcement officials to create a plan that would ensure a safe environment and practices for the staff, guests and community at large. The approved plan included:

    significantly reduced attendance
    staggered guest arrival times
    single direction traffic flow
    copious signage promoting healthy practices
    mandatory temperature checks and health questionnaires for staff and volunteers, and
    specialized staff and volunteer training on PPEs and proper disinfecting procedures.

    The event was held at Charis Bible College in Woodland Park, CO. At the time, Colorado was at Level 2 of its public health orders. According to the state's own social distancing calculator, the 250,000 sq ft facility should have been able to accommodate up to 1,215 people. But the ministry capped attendance to less than 1,000. The auditorium, where the adults of the event gathered was restricted to 25% of the room's capacity, with plenty of space left between families.

    Cease and Desist

    So why did the AG send the cease and desist order, threatening to shut down the event? Andrew Wommack sat down yesterday with Stream contributor and LIFE Today Live host Randy Robison to explain why. And why he defied the order.

    (Video at link)

    Wommack tells of the arbitrary maximum of 175 people for any gathering recently imposed by Colorado Governor Jared Polis. That number is regardless of compliance to all other orders and facility capacities.

    Discrimination

    Wommack's decision to proceed with the event in defiance of the governor's mandate did not come lightly. "If it was only a First Amendment issue, if that was all we were fighting for," he said, "I'd be willing to go to the mat, I'd be willing to go to jail." He said it would have been an easy decision to stand up to the growing threat of a godless state government if it weren't for the reality of the virus. He wants to ensure that his actions do not cause harm to his staff and community. "I'm concerned about the virus and protecting people, but we took every precaution, more precautions certainly than what they've had at these protests. And yet they haven't restricted them at all."

    "I believe it is not only our constitutional right but our duty to stop this extreme overreach of government that allows people to riot and pillage but not assemble to worship the Lord." – Andrew Wommack

    Protests throughout the state of Colorado have drawn thousands daily. Not only have they have not been limited, they've been publicly encouraged by the governor. Wommack feels it is pure discrimination against the church to allow unrestricted and unhindered groups to protest, even as they pose a threat to public health. Yet Wommack's ministry was targeted despite their 'exemplary efforts" to ensure people's health and safety.

    Liberty Counsel is representing Andrew Wommack Ministries against the State of Colorado. They have sent a letter to the AG's office calling out the discrimination. Liberty Counsel Founder Mat Staver stated, "Religious gatherings have a Constitutional right to exist, and the Colorado attorney general has clearly discriminated against Andrew Wommack Ministries while encouraging mass protests of people that are not taking health precautions. There is neither a pandemic pause button to the Constitution nor an exception for religious gatherings."

    A quick image search shows the vast number of people who have turned out for the protests. Liberty Counsel's letter includes several to drive the point home.

    Curious Timing

    Toward the end of May, Wommack and more than 700 other ministers in Colorado sent a letter to state officials saying their voluntary compliance with the shutdown was coming to an end. After three months of churches being declared non-essential, it was time to push back. On May 31st, Pentecost Sunday, they returned to holding in-person services at the churches. With precautions and limitations, of course. To date, none of them have received any trouble from the state. Until the Summer Family Bible Conference, that is.

    On the evening of July 1st, the night before the AG order was signed, Wommack led a panel discussion for the Truth and Liberty Coalition with William Federer, General Jerry Boykin, Tony Perkins, E. W. Jackson, and Janet Boynes. In this "powerful" session of the conference, they walked through all the key issues at stake in the upcoming election. They analyzed the platforms of both major political parties and discussed biblical stances on each. The discussion was live streamed and so far has had over 20,000 views and high praise in the comments. You can watch the entire discussion here:

    The timing of the order and the double standard of the state government raises a question: Is Colorado trying to suppress a virus or the political speech of the faithful?









    This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity (futility) of their mind, having the understanding darkened...
    (Ephesians 4:17-18)

    Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly...
    (Psalm 1)

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    Administrator fuego's Avatar
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    This whole allowing protests and funerals of criminals and not allowing 'church' is starting to get on my nerves.

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    Quote Originally Posted by fuego View Post
    This whole allowing protests and funerals of criminals and not allowing 'church' is starting to get on my nerves.
    For Marxism, socialism or communism to gain an even stronger foothold, the church must be destroyed. This is the plan and why the church is under such an attack.

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    Administrator fuego's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Muriel View Post
    For Marxism, socialism or communism to gain an even stronger foothold, the church must be destroyed. This is the plan and why the church is under such an attack.
    It is definitely a spiritual battle.

    "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
    **Ephesians‬ *6:12‬ *KJV‬‬

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    Praise the Lord for the Baptism of the Holy Ghost w/evidence of speaking in other tongues. It gives us POWER beyond ourselves. And we will need it in these last days.

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  11. #6

    Colorado sued over limits on size of religious gatherings during pandemic
    Liberty Counsel sues Gov. Jared Polis over 175-person limit on crowd sizes during pandemic
    By JESSICA SEAMAN
    PUBLISHED: September 28, 2020 at 4:28 p.m. | UPDATED: September 28, 2020 at 7:14 p.m.
    Colorado sued over COVID-19 orders limiting attendance at religious gatherings

    A legal organization representing Andrew Wommack Ministries sued Gov. Jared Polis on Monday in an effort to halt Colorado's COVID-19 public health orders that limit the size of religious and other gatherings ahead of a conference the Woodland Park ministry is holding next week.

    The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Denver, asks for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against multiple public health orders issued by state officials during the coronavirus pandemic.

    The suit comes a week before the ministry's Pastor's Conference, which is scheduled to start Oct. 5. The event draws pastors and ministers from outside the local community and is required attendance for more than 600 students at Charis Bible College, according to the legal complaint.

    The lawsuit filed by the conservative nonprofit organization Liberty Counsel challenges Colorado's 175-person cap on religious gatherings during the pandemic. The lawsuit calls out Polis for having "excused from such restrictions untold thousands of protesters who have gathered all throughout Colorado cities, with no social distancing, and with no threat of criminal or legal sanction."

    In July, the Colorado Attorney General's Office sent a cease-and-desist letter to Andrew Wommack Ministries for violating the state's health orders by hosting a summer conference, KRDO reported.

    The issue of COVID-19 restrictions on houses of worship has reached the U.S. Supreme Court already this year, with the justices voting 5-4 in May to reject a challenge by a California church suing to stop that state's order to shut down religious services.

    Liberty Counsel, the group suing Polis and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, has been designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-LGBTQ "hate group."

    Representatives from the governor's office and the state health department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.







    This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity (futility) of their mind, having the understanding darkened...
    (Ephesians 4:17-18)

    Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly...
    (Psalm 1)

  12. #7

    Judge rejects challenge to Colorado's limits on religious gatherings during COVID-19 pandemic
    Legal organization representing Andrew Wommack Ministries had sued Gov. Jared
    By Shelly Bradbury
    Judge rejects challenge to Colorado's limits on size of religious gatherings during COVID-19 pandemic

    A federal judge on Tuesday refused to exempt a religious organization from Gov. Jared Polis' public health orders prohibiting large gatherings during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

    A legal organization representing Andrew Wommack Ministries sued Polis on Monday, ahead of a planned Pastor's Conference scheduled to start Oct. 5 that is expected to draw more than 600 attendees.

    The lawsuit challenged Polis' 175-person cap on religious gatherings during the pandemic as unconstitutional, and asked U.S. District Judge Christine Arguello to exempt Andrew Wommack Ministries from the restrictions.

    She declined to do so Tuesday.

    "Granting such an injunction would present a high risk of harm to the state of Colorado as well as the public generally," she wrote in the order. "...The relief the Plaintiff requests has the potential to increase case numbers significantly, placing a high burden on the state. Further, Plaintiff would be compromising the health of the public, which could cause the death of an untold number of innocent citizens."

    Attorneys for Andrew Wommack Ministries filed a notice with the court Tuesday that they plan to appeal the decision. The lawsuit was filed by Liberty Counsel, a conservative nonprofit legal organization headquartered in Florida.

    "The virus does not discriminate between nonreligious and religious gatherings, but Gov. Jared Polis does," Liberty Counsel founder Mat Staver said in a statement, adding later, "We look forward (to) presenting arguments to the Court of Appeals, and even the Supreme Court, at some time in the future. This case is far from over."

    The issue of COVID-19 restrictions on houses of worship has reached the U.S. Supreme Court already this year, with the justices voting 5-4 in May to reject a challenge by a California church suing to stop that state's order to shut down religious services.

    In Tuesday's order, Arguello noted that the legal arguments presented by Andrew Wommack Ministries are similar to cases that have already been decided.

    "Numerous courts have considered, and persuasively rejected, nearly identical arguments," she wrote.








    This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity (futility) of their mind, having the understanding darkened...
    (Ephesians 4:17-18)

    Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly...
    (Psalm 1)

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