Pastor Che Ahn delivers a sermon via YouTube on Sept. 13, 2020, at Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena. (Image from YouTube) LOS ANGELES — Pasadena-based Harvest Rock Church lost its bid for an emergency order overturning Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ban on indoor singing and chanting in places of worship — enacted to fight the spread of the coronavirus, according to court papers obtained Friday. Harvest Rock — which also has houses of worship in Corona and Irvine — sought a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction in July, alleging that the governor’s statewide ban violates the right to religious freedom clause of the First Amendment, and the “cherished liberties for which so many have fought and died.” U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright II denied the motion in Los Angeles federal court and the church appealed to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which denied the request in a 2 to 1 ruling Thursday. The majority of the panel held that the state’s health restrictions on churches did not discriminate against religious expression. California’s orders apply to worship services as they do to other indoor events, such as lectures and movie theaters, according to the appellate order, while […]
Click here to view original article www.pasadenastarnews.com