Pastor Tony Spell’s Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Holds Service Despite COVID-19 Gathering Ban

Pastor Tony Spell’s Life Tabernacle Church held a gathering on a Tuesday in March 2020, despite a statewide public health emergency that prohibits gatherings of 50 or more people. Christianity Today reported that the church is part of the Oneness Pentecostal movement and that it is in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. About 300 people attended the Tuesday night service, although the church typically draws more than 1,000 on Sundays.

Spell told reporters that the virus is “politically motivated” and that the church would assemble “no matter what someone says.” He shared a 25-minute clip of the service on his Facebook page, where ministers distributed anointed handkerchiefs. Governor John Bel Edwards declared the emergency that Tuesday, limiting public and private gatherings in line with CDC recommendations. According to the report, the governor had not yet called on the National Guard to enforce the restrictions. The report also said a court could intervene and potentially order the church to stop meeting. Local prosecutor Hillar Moore advised law enforcement to approach the situation with care.

HuffPost later reported that Spell, of Life Tabernacle Church in Central, Louisiana, had continued in-person worship despite state guidelines and had openly challenged the stay-at-home order. The outlet described the church’s gatherings as drawing large crowds. The two reports differ on the church’s location, with one placing it in Baton Rouge and the other in Central.

HuffPost reported that Harold Orillion, a 78-year-old member of Spell’s congregation, died on a Wednesday from complications related to COVID-19. According to a statement obtained by the Daily Beast, the local coroner listed the causes of death as acute respiratory distress syndrome, secondary pneumonia and secondary COVID-19. Spell disputed that account. He said Orillion’s death was not related to the virus and attributed it to a broken heart after his son’s death, noting that Orillion had Parkinson’s disease. The reports do not describe any independent review of these competing explanations.

On the day of Orillion’s death, Spell urged followers on YouTube to take part in a “stimulus challenge” by donating their stimulus checks to religious leaders and ministries. He said he and his wife were donating their full stimulus checks and that his son was contributing a portion.

HuffPost also reported that a lawyer representing Life Tabernacle Church in its legal fight against the state’s stay-at-home order had fallen ill with the virus. According to The Advocate, the lawyer has been hospitalized since Tuesday.