The Jackboot of Oppression Rears Its Head

On Tuesday, March 31, 2020, when Central Police Chief Roger Corcoran walked into the sanctuary of Life Tabernacle Church on Hooper Road in the City of Central, he walked into the history books.  

Since the Pilgrims arrived in 1620, 400 years ago, Christians have been able to freely assemble in the sanctuaries of their churches to hold church services.  That right to worship freely and assemble in their holy places was formally recognized in the Constitution of the United States with the adoption of the Bill of Rights.

Never before in our history has a government official tried to prohibit a church from holding worship services.

The Founding Fathers believed the rights to Freedom of Religion, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of the Press, the Right to Assemble peaceably, and the Right to Petition the government, were the most important of all rights and placed them in the First Amendment.

Of these rights, they believed Freedom of Religion was the most important and listed it first.

The Founding Fathers refused to ratify the new Constitution until it was amended to add a Bill of Rights. Some argued against the need for a Bill of Rights, because it was said everyone understood what man’s fundamental rights were.  However, the majority of the Founders believed a formal listing of rights must be adopted, lest the people forget those rights or they be violated by men of little understanding.

At no time in the past more than 230 years since the adoption of the Constitution has any President, Governor, or other public official purported to suspend the rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights and certainly not Freedom of Religion or Freedom of Assembly.

Until now.

In March 2020, the Governor of Louisiana issued a series of decrees or emergency orders. Some of those orders purported to prohibit gatherings of more than 10 people. He stated explicitly that this ban on gathering applied to churches.

Ironically, he designated churches as “essential” and purported to give citizens the right to go to and from their churches, but not to worship there if more than 10 were present.

All this was done in the name of protecting the public health.

Yet, at the same time, the Governor allowed the public the right to freely go to large box stores, where hundreds of customers often gathered with little or no safeguards.

That was done of necessity, he said, because people have to eat.

However, some people need to come together to worship — to assemble as the Constitution guarantees — in their place of worship. Others may not think it is a necessity, but they do.

Somehow, going to a house of worship is inherently more dangerous than going to a big box store.

Across the nation, other governors released similar declarations closing churches to worship services, although the Governor of Texas has just reversed himself and allowed worship services to resume in Texas at least to some degree.

Here in Louisiana, almost all churches decided to quietly comply with the Governor’s decree. Many began online services, where the pastor would speak or preach, but of course there could be no formal gathering of the congregation at the church for these services.

Here in Central, Milldale Baptist Church continued to hold services for awhile. However, one church, Life Tabernacle Church on Hooper Road has continued to have its regular church services.  The pastor, Rev. Tony Spell, and before him his grandfather, Rev. Berwick Spell have held services for 62 straight years, more than 3,000 consecutive Sundays plus services during the week, never missing a service during wars, economic problems, hurricanes, floods, or epidemics.

Rev. Tony Spell was warned to stop his services. However, he insisted that his Pentecostal congregation needed to worship together. The nature of the Pentecostal service is interactive with movement around the sanctuary by the congregation, the speaking in tongues, praying together, and responding to the pastor. Those who accept Jesus are baptised during the service — in person. He said no online experience could provide what can only be done in person.

Life Tabernacle has continued its services with more than 1,100 attending Sunday morning services. There are about 500 in the sanctuary and the others, mostly young people, are spread around the 30-acre campus and its many buildings.

The services are lively and have been broadcast live across the nation, drawing tens of thousands of viewers. Many who have never attended a Pentecostal service are shocked to see a service so completely different from those held in most Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopal or other large denominations.

A Pew study found that there are 279 million Pentecostals worldwide, representing 11 percent of all Christians and four percent of the total population.  There is also a charismatic movement within the Catholic church.

The Pentecostal movement began in the early 1900’s with the Azusa Street Revival in California. Led by a black man, William Seymour, it was supposed to last a few days but ended up continuing for three years.  Many Pentecostal churches have been racially mixed since those early days, long before it was accepted in most churches or society at large.  The revival led to the spread of the Pentecostal faith across the nation and around the world.

Since mid-March, some people in Central and elsewhere have demanded that Life Tabernacle be shut down and that Rev. Spell be arrested.

Some claimed he was defying the governor, that he was seeking attention, or that it was all about money. Rev. Spell pointed said he was not defying anyone, just continuing to hold worship services as he and his grandfather have done for 62 years. Not defying the Governor but listening to God, he said.

To the charge that it was just about making money, he pointed out that most of his congregation is very poor. They don’t have cars or the Internet.

Years ago, Rev. Tony Spell began a bus ministry to reach poor people in North Baton Rouge, especially 70805. He and his leaders visit hundreds of homes every Saturday inviting people to church.

As his black membership grew, some members of the church rebelled and left. Today Life Tabernacle is roughly 50-50 black and white, one of the few truly racially mixed churches in the country.

The bus ministry, which now extends all the way to Hammond, is said to have played a major role in reducing crime in 70805 and shutting down drug labs and gangs as more and more people in the area listened to the message and turned their lives around.  Those who ride the bus are fed at every service, and the church helps meet many of their needs.

In August 2016, Central experienced a devastating flood.  Rev. Spell and his congregation set up Life Tabernacle as a refugee center and the buses were used as rescue vehicles, because they were able to travel into flooded areas and bring people out.

Then, on the Saturday of the flood, Life Tabernacle itself began to flood, and both the congregation and the refugees had to flee to higher ground. Ultimately, the church received three feet of water and suffered extensive damage.

On Tuesday, when Central Police Chief Roger Corcoran entered the sanctuary at Life Tabernacle, he arrested Rev. Spell, read him his rights, fingerprinted him, and handed him a misdemeanor summons. He was released on his own recognizance. The misdemeanor summons accuses Rev. Spell of six counts of violating the Governor’s Emergency Orders. District Attorney Hillar Moore intends to prosecute.

This is amazing! The United States Constitution is the law of the land  The Constitution guarantees Life Tabernacle and all of us Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Assembly.  No President or Governor can suspend it.  It is above any statute passed by Congress or the legislature, must less a decree by the Governor.

But in any case, even the state statute under which the Governor is acting specifically says that his actions may not violate the Declaration of Rights of the Louisiana Constitution or the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution.

In addition, there are many other legal problems with the arrest of Rev. Spell including equal protection, due process of law, and the Louisiana law prohibiting discrimination based on religious ideas or beliefs (Art. I, Section 3 of the Louisiana Constitution).

For those who say the pastor should “obey the law,” the reality is the law is all on his side.  The State has nothing to stand on. The U.S. Constitution, the Louisiana Constitution, and even the operating statute show that Rev. Spell and his congregation are operating legally, and the State is operating 100 percent illegally.

We do not know where this will end.  However, grave damage to the constitutional rights of these citizens is being done.  Every public official who participates in this travesty is violating federal Civil Rights laws and exposing himself to personal liability.  They should think long and hard about continuing to attack Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Assembly.  They are building a house of illusions, ready at any moment to fall. All swore to protect and defend the Constitution, not destroy it.