Richmond pastor cited for violating COVID-19 health order ‘We are just fools for Christ,’ the pastor told his congregation

Richmond pastor cited for violating COVID-19 health order

‘We are just fools for Christ,’ the pastor told his congregation

The Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office cited a Richmond pastor for defying the coronavirus shelter-in-place order by holding church services on Easter Sunday.

Although it has happened elsewhere in the country, Pastor Wyndford Williams of All Nations Church of God in Christ is believed to be the first Bay Area religious leader cited for violating the health ordinances put in place to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The misdemeanor citation was issued April 13, a sheriff’s spokesman said.

A Contra Costa sheriff’s deputy arrived at the church after 12:30 p.m. and found about 40 people who were not social distancing or wearing masks, spokesman Jimmy Lee said Thursday evening.

“The deputy first spoke to the deacon and asked to speak to the pastor who was in front of the parishioners. The pastor was uncooperative and refused to talk to the deputy,” Lee said.

“Our focus has been on education of the Health Officer Order, and in the vast majority of cases we ask for voluntary compliance, and that solves the problem,” said Contra Costa Sheriff David Livingston. “This was different. The pastor refused to cooperate and put the lives of dozens of parishioners at risk.”

Two Sundays before Easter, on March 29, Williams told his congregation from the pulpit, “a preacher said on TV the other day that we would be fools to go to church but we are just fools for Christ,” according to a Facebook video of the sermon.

The Bay Area’s shelter-in-place order went into effect March 17 and banned large gatherings and non-essential businesses from operating. Pastor Williams could not be immediately reached Thursday afternoon.

West Contra Costa Supervisor John Gioia said the citation is the only one he knows of involving a religious group.

“We all need to take the health order seriously because this is about saving lives and keeping our hospitals from being overloaded,” Gioia said. The order “applies equally to religious gatherings, funerals and political meetings. I want to applaud the faith community for abiding by the order and using alternative means of worship. Not having gatherings does not mean not worshipping,” the supervisor said.

In Oakland, police on Easter received at least one complaint of a church holding services but the city did not issue any citations.

Four more COVID-19 related deaths were reported in Contra Costa on Thursday, along with 16 more people testing positive for the potentially deadly virus. A total of 631 residents have tested positive and 18 have died, county health officials said.

Richmond has recorded the most cases with 66, although it ranks 12th of 26 Contra Costa cities with the most cases per 100,000 residents. Behind Concord, Richmond is the largest county city and just above Antioch in population.

All Nations Church of God in Christ is on York Street in an area where North Richmond is jurisdictionally split between the city of Richmond and unincorporated Contra Costa, putting it under Sheriff David Livingston. Because of the way county health displays COVID-19 data, it is difficult to know if any cases exist among the more than 3,000 North Richmond residents.

During the March 29 sermon, Williams praised the work of people risking their lives to help others and said, “Lord, we ask you to help the nation help those that are sick today.” The pastor, according to the Facebook video, also told churchgoers how the virus “affects different ways, affects people in their lungs, respiratory system.”

Earlier this month, at least 70 people linked to a Pentecostal church in Rancho Cordova, a suburb north of Sacramento, were infected with coronavirus.

In Virginia, a pastor contracted COVID-19 and died after defying warnings about the dangers of religious gatherings and saying he’d keep preaching “unless I’m in jail or the hospital.” The pastor of a Pentecostal megachurch in Florida was arrested last month after preaching in front of hundreds of people.