Maritime Pentecostal churches under scrutiny as push to vaccinate ramps up

Pastor says it’s not his place to promote shots: ‘I’m in town here to help people spiritually’

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Recent COVID-19 outbreaks in Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick have focused attention on what is being preached in Pentecostal churches in the affected areas, but a religious scholar says any ministers advocating against vaccination would be exceptions within the faith.

Pentecostalism is a form of Christianity known for its exuberant pastors preaching or singing about demons, congregations swaying with their hands raised in ecstasy and even speaking in tongues.

Though its numbers are small, the denomination has fallen under scrutiny in Atlantic Canada as governments work to get needles into the arms of the unvaccinated.

In Bishop’s Falls, N.L., the First United Pentecostal Church was at the centre of a COVID-19 outbreak this month that ultimately involved 56 infections and killed at least one unvaccinated congregant. The province described the cluster as being among “a group that is closely socially connected,” and Premier Andrew Furey responded by convening a meeting of religious leaders, including Pentecostals, to discuss the importance of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The First United Pentecostal Church’s pastor, Leroy Gee, said he complies with whatever public health rules the government introduces, but he worries forced compliance — like requiring vaccination to access services or hold certain jobs — is a sign of increasing control that could have Biblical consequences.

“God doesn’t force anybody to serve Him,” Gee said in an interview Wednesday. “But we’re moving into a time when you’re going to be forced to serve the system. And the system is going to be what is known as the tribulation, or the Antichrist system.”

In New Brunswick, a Pentecostal church, Amazing Grace, was named as the location of an exposure notification in the northwest of the province on Aug. 29. Joe Gee, a resident of the nearby town of Carlingford, N.B., who is not related to the Newfoundland pastor, said in a recent telephone interview he believes some of his family members were exposed to the virus as a result of its spread in the church, and he wants health officials to investigate what happened. He said his unvaccinated father died as a result of the outbreak.

Last weekend in Saint John, N.B., officials found His Tabernacle Family Church to be violating public health orders. “Investigations are ongoing, and matters are before the courts,” Health Minister Dorothy Shephard told reporters Tuesday.

Phil Hutchings, the Saint John church’s founder and lead pastor, posted Sunday to Facebook: “We had a packed service tonight and it was powerful!!! But I forgot to tell Public Safety that we changed locations,” followed by a laughing emoji. The church’s website says Hutchings, who did not respond to a request for an interview, was trained at the Pentecostal Zion Bible College in Rhode Island.

Leroy Gee said he is vaccinated but he doesn’t feel it’s his place to tell his congregation in Bishop’s Falls to follow suit. “As a minister, I’m in town here to help people spiritually,” he said.