On Tuesday, Jan. 20, Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, released a statement calling the anti-ICE protesters who barged into its worship service Sunday morning “shameful” and “unlawful.”
On Jan. 18, a group of anti-ICE protesters deliberately disrupted a worship service at Cities Church, a church plant in St. Paul supported by the Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) Send Network. The protesters entered the church as the congregation—including men, women, and children—was worshiping.
Cities Church is pastored by Jonathan Parnell and is where Desiring God President and CEO Marshall Segal and Executive Editor David Mathis serve as pastors.
Anti-ICE protesters targeted Cities Church because they claim a pastor who serves at the church is the director of the ICE field office in St. Paul.
RELATED: SBC President Clint Pressley Is ‘Absolutely Enraged’ After Anti-ICE Protest Disrupts Church Service
“Jesus is real. When we gather on Sunday mornings to worship him, we are gladly giving ourselves to what is most central and sacred in our life together,” Cities Church’s statement reads. “‘We worship Jesus’ stretches as the main banner of our church, alongside two other pursuits that flow from it: loving one another and seeking the good of the Twin Cities.”
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The leadership at Cities Church said the anti-ICE protestors intimidated and threatened the congregation, which included children, during their “shameful” and “unlawful” disruption.
“On Sunday, January 18, a group of agitators jarringly disrupted our worship gathering. They accosted members of our congregation, frightened children, and created a scene marked by intimidation and threat,” Cities Church stated. “Such conduct is shameful, unlawful, and will not be tolerated. Invading a church service to disrupt the worship of Jesus—or any other act of worship—is protected by neither the Christian Scriptures nor the laws of this nation.”
“We welcome respectful dialogue about present issues, and about how the realness of Jesus, as revealed in the Bible, provides the only final answers to the world’s most complex and intractable problems,” the statement said.
Cities Church continued, “Jesus Christ, the divine Son of God, lived, died, and rose again for the rescue of all who put their faith in him.” Leadership explained, “He offers a love that transcends cultures, borders, policies, and politics. As those who have been loved and rescued by him, we will not shrink from worshiping Jesus, nor will we stop ‘teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah’ (Acts 5:42).”
On Tuesday, Jan. 20, Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, released a statement calling the anti-ICE protesters who barged into its worship service Sunday morning “shameful” and “unlawful.”Click to Post
