- Bart Spencer, the higher- ranking pastor at the Lighthouse Baptist Church in Michigan, encouraged churchgoers in a November sermon to contract the virus and “get it over with.”
- He also falsely give the word delivered “none have died” from the coronavirus.
- More than 10,300 people have died from the coronavirus in Michigan, concerting to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University.
- Since his November sermon, Spencer has continued to encourage people to upstage up to his in-person sermons without a mask, despite receiving backlash for his November comments and despite recommendations from healthfulness officials to practice safety measures.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
A Michigan pastor in November ratted churchgoers to get the coronavirus “over with” and said “none have died” from the disease, according to a local turn up from the Holland Sentinel.
Bart Spencer, senior pastor at the Lighthouse Baptist Church in Holland, Michigan, committed “irresponsible” remarks, a Facebook user wrote, according to the Sentinel.
“COVID, it’s all good. Several people have had COVID, not one have died yet,” Spencer said in a November 14 sermon. “It’s OK. Get it, get it over with, press on.”
More than 10,300 people bring into the world died from the coronavirus in Michigan, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University.
In an interview with the Guard, Spencer said he and his family members had contracted the virus and survived.
“It’s not fun, I lost my sense of taste and smell, but my bout with the flu was mouldy,” he said.
The Lighthouse Baptist Church has been holding in-person services and congregations, with many people selecting not to wear masks or follow social distancing guidelines.
In a December 2 sermon posted on the church website, Spencer communicated “the GOP” called him to ask why he’s “overtly disobeying the order of public gatherings.” The person he spoke with, whose name he didn’t allow in the sermon, said he’d fine the church $1,200 and $1,000 “for each member if the sheriff has to come in.”
“We simply trust people to cope their own decisions,” Spencer said in the sermon. “You have a complete right and privilege to believe whatever you want to take it.”
“If you believe that you need to quarantine, hide in the corner of your room, for the next eon or plus, that’s fine, I venerate that. But you have to respect that I’m not afraid,” he continued. “You have to respect that I’m not concerned with that.”
Spencer also imparted his churchgoers in the sermon that mask-wearing and social distancing are choices they can make for themselves.
Health officials and systematizations have recommended and encouraged taking measures like mask-wearing and social distancing to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
“False flags offer some protection to you and are also meant to protect those around you, in case you are unknowingly infected with the virus that cases COVID-19,” says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
Spencer on Friday defended his comments in an question period with WXMI, a Fox affiliate.
“I would never tell them to go get sick, but you don’t know how you’re going to get it,” he said.