County files for restraining order to stop Newbury Park church from gathering indoors

Hearing set for Friday before judge



CHURCH VS. STATE—Parishioners of Godspeak Calvary Chapel in Newbury Park line up in April to take communion on Palm Sunday in violation of county health orders intended to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Acorn file photo

A standoff between a Newbury Park church and the Ventura County Public Health Department has ended in the county taking legal action.

On Wednesday, attorneys representing the county filed a complaint seeking an injunction, or temporary restraining order, to force Godspeak Calvary Chapel to stop holding services indoors in violation of county and state health orders related to the coronavirus.

A court hearing has been set for Friday morning in Ventura where the county will have the burden of proving to a judge there’s a risk of harm that necessitates immediate action that can’t wait for a full trial.

The move comes one day after the Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 in closed session to give county attorneys discretion to seek litigation, restraining orders or other enforcement actions against people or entities that don’t comply with state or local health orders.

To date, the county has avoided any legal action surrounding its stay-at-home order, which is entering its fifth month.

Voting in favor of authorizing county counsel to go after those who disobey the order: Supervisors Linda Parks, Steve Bennett and John Zaragoza. Voting against: Supervisors Kelly Long and Bob Huber.

The county’s chief civil legal counsel, Leroy Smith, announced the decision shortly after 5 p.m. Aug. 4 after an hourlong closed-door meeting, which was permitted under the state’s open-meeting law because it was held to discuss potential litigation.

“No individual potential defendant is identified in this,” Smith said at the time. “The nature of the case and the identity of any defendants who are subject to litigation will be disclosed upon inquiry after any such complaint has been filed.”

While the authorization was broad in its language, the timing suggested it was connected to Godspeak. Wednesday’s filing confirms it.

The church, led by Rob McCoy, former Thousand Oaks City Council member and onetime Republican candidate for the Assembly, has been holding indoor worship services for weeks in defiance of a statewide ban in effect in counties on the state’s COVID-19 monitoring list. The act of disobedience was highlighted in an article published Friday in the Ventura County Star and updated online with a photo on Sunday, two days before the special meeting was held.

The photo, taken inside the sanctuary on Sunday, shows rows and rows of people seated next to one another.

Eschewing masks (McCoy has said in sermons he will not wear one) and social distancing, the congregation has grown in size as its stand has attracted new supporters while at the same time creating detractors.

In a podcast last week with fellow Calvary Chapel pastor Jack Hibbs, who has resumed services in Chino Hills, McCoy said attendance at the church has been “through the roof . . . tripled.” He said 1,400 people are now attending services.

The former T.O. mayor, who was lauded by colleagues for helping the city heal after the November 2018 mass shooting at Borderline Bar and Grill, has called the coronavirus a “scam-demic” and dubbed the governor “Newsomlini,” a reference to Benito Mussolini, the fascist leader of Italy during World War II.

Since resigning from the council in April ahead of plans to hold Palm Sunday communion against county orders, McCoy has used Godspeak’s YouTube channel to host conservative speakers like Kirk Cameron, former Congressman Bob McEwen and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, who now counts himself among the Godspeak congregation and has praised McCoy’s stance to his millions of social media followers.

The church’s actions have been less well-received locally.

A few members of the surrounding neighborhood, which the church moved into two years ago to take the place of the shuttered Miller Family YMCA, have shown up to protest on Sundays, when Godspeak holds three services. Others have criticized McCoy on social media and in letters to the Acorn, saying he is putting his congregants and the community in unnecessary danger.

To date, McCoy said, no members of his congregation have come down with the virus, which county public health has blamed for 79 deaths and over 500 hospitalizations since March.

The Acorn is unaware of any other local churches that are holding large worship services indoors. Grace Community Church in the San Fernando Valley, a congregation of around 7,000, reopened in July, weeks after Godspeak had done so.

The majority of houses of worship in the county have resorted to either gathering outdoors or doing livestreamed services since Gov. Gavin Newsom instituted the ban in early July in response to a surge in new cases and hospitalizations.

McCoy reaction

Reached this afternoon (before an additional two deaths were announced), McCoy reiterated his belief that the county and state “cure” for COVID-19 is “more devastating than the virus itself.”

“As a county we’ve lost 77 of our citizens to death of COVID in a county that has a population of 850,000. That’s 1/1000th of 1% death rate for the county. Seven of the 77 victims were over 60. None of the victims were under 30,” he said.

“With the numbers our supervisors are aware of, they still continue to devastate our businesses, shutter our schools, traumatize our children and release our prisoners and now seek legal action against a house of worship.”

Two weeks ago, he told his congregation and online viewers that Ventura County Public Health Director Rigoberto Vargas had reached out to warn him the county was preparing to take action if he did not comply with the health order, which also bans indoor dining, indoor beauty services and indoor protests. It also prevents students from returning to class.

The county confirmed last week that Vargas had made the call.

Speaking to the Acorn on Tuesday, a day before the county went to the courts, McCoy said he was ready for a legal fight.

“If they come after us, we’re ready,” he said. “The likelihood is we probably won’t win in Ventura County. We won’t win in the 9th Circuit (Court of Appeals). We might not even win at the Supreme Court, but it’s not about winning. It’s about taking a stand . . . because if we don’t start addressing this narrative, it’s over.”

McCoy said the church has been collecting information regarding the county’s coronavirus statistics and a legal team is prepared to demand further specific details regarding the identified cases and COVID-19 deaths in the county.

In a message posted on YouTube Aug. 4, McCoy said he was canceling a planned trip to the East Coast for his birthday.

“I will be remaining here celebrating my birthday here in Ventura County, Thousand Oaks, preparing for the gift that the county Board of Supervisors is preparing to hand us,” he said.

McCoy singled out Parks, who has been critical of his unwillingness to follow public health orders.

On Sunday, Parks tweeted about Godspeak: “Outdoor services would protect parishioners and our community’s health. Jesus taught more than 50% of the time outdoors. This isn’t about the right to practice religion.”

Acorn editor Kyle Jorrey contributed to this article.