The pastor of LODI, Calif. - Members of a central California church found themselves locked out of the bulding after the pastor originally kept his doors open, saying the shelter-in-place orders violated his freedom to assemble.
But within the past week, the landlord of the Cross Culture Christian Center in Lodi, Calif. changed the locks, so congregants couldn't enter the building for Palm Sunday services, Fox 40 reported.
The San Joaquin County Health Department had ordered the church to shut down last week. A small gathering of congregants showed up Sunday and they had been poised to defy the shelter-in-place order. "I'm not thrilled in general with the restriction on religious liberties," said Jeremy Duncan, the pastor's brother.