Nearly $75,000 in COVID-19 fines is a big bill for a little church congregation near Steinbach, MB. That’s the final tally of the punishment Manitoba courts handed the Church of God Restoration, and individual members, for breaking public-health orders..It’s a financial burden for the factory workers and farmers attending the 160-member church. More than half its congregation were children. Even a judge recognized that and gave seven years to pay..Nonetheless, the fines mean their children must do with less, particularly in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Canada where inflation eats further into every dollar as each day passes..Factory workers don’t earn much. Neither do many farmers these days. But the congregation agreed to equally share the burden..Do the area COVID Karens — zealots who deputized themselves and monitored these church members while on speed dial to the RCMP — feel smug about that? Maybe they’ll find a conscience and contribute to the GiveSendGo fund set up for the church — now that evidence shows masks, lockdowns, and social distancing did little to stop the spread of COVID-19..Do Conservatives politicians — Health Minister Audrey Gordon, Families Minister Rochelle Squires, and Sport, Culture and Heritage Minister Cathy Cox — caught whooping it up maskless at a Winnipeg Art Gallery gala feel shame? They got off with a “sorry” and no fines — but the little church was hammered.. Rochelle SquiresDuring the COVID lockdown, Manitoba Families Minister Rochelle Squires attended a gala at the Winnipeg Art Gallery along with Health Minister Audrey Gordon. Both ministers apologized for not wearing a mask indoors during the night, when they were supposed to. .Unlikely. After getting outed for breaking a mandate she pushed on everyone else, Gordon vowed enforcement officers would regularly monitor religious gatherings. And they did. Recently, after reaching a plea deal, the church was fined $30,000 for holding six in-person services and breaking public health orders limiting the number of people allowed to gather. One $5,000 fine was for holding a highway service after RCMP blocked the church parking lot. Two fines were dropped..“They threatened us with upwards of $100,000 if we would continue to fight in court. Because we already know the pattern of how the courts work in Manitoba, we realized it would be in our best interest to negotiate,” said Pastor Tobias Tissen..This father of three, who was fined $27,000, is one of five church members individually fined..“Right now, I think most people feel like things have eased up and we haven’t had a lot of oppression in the same way we had a couple of years ago. But the courts work in such a way that it’s dragged out. Only now, we have come to court with all the fines that they have directed against the church.”.Dragged out indeed. Last month Tissen was fined another $4,275 for failing to take a COVID-19 test at the Winnipeg Airport in December 2021..Looking back, it seems a line was crossed when public safety concerns stretched into religious persecution. In the heat of it all, the CBC — cheerleaders of the Emergencies [War Measures] Act and Freedom Convoy critics — piled on and published an article portraying the church as a cult..But no matter how much the media accused, the Karens complained and the authorities crushed them, church members refused to deviate from one purpose — to gather in faith to worship God..That’s all it was about. God first. When it came to choosing between COVID-19 restrictions and faith, they clung to faith..“This whole thing made some sort of activists out of us when that’s not really us,” said Tissen. “We made the demonstration to the world that we’re willing to fight against the evil. We’ve just had to face the consequences of our stand. We don’t have the money. Now we want to get the money together and close that chapter and be the body of Christ that we need to be.”.“What we’ve been through that last couple of years gave us the opportunity to take a bold stand for what’s right, for what the Bible is teaching us as Christians.”.It might surprise those who came at them with pitchforks to know that through it all, church members held no malice. They prayed for them. And still do..“We are instructed in the Bible to pray for those in authority so that we can lead a quiet and peaceful life.”.“The ultimate goal of a Christian is to be peaceful, to be a help to the needy, to bring hope to the hopeless, and to really be the hands and feet of our Lord Jesus Christ.”.Still, it wasn’t easy being targeted for going to church. Perhaps the darkest night was October 18 when RCMP handcuffed Tissen in front of his sons and hauled him off to jail for two nights on outstanding warrants. There’s a haunting photo of his scared boys, then aged six and three, peering into the window of the Winnipeg police station to get a glimpse of their father before he was hauled off to the Winnipeg Remand Centre..Some view those who defied COVID-19 mandates as heretics, lawbreakers, and lepers. Others hail them as heroes..In time, those boys will be old enough to appreciate the courage it took for their father, and others, to stand firm for freedom and faith..The church didn’t stand alone. “I personally would like to let all of the readers of the Western Standard know we appreciate all those who followed our story, prayed for us and stood with us over the last couple of years.”.“I want them to know we’re not discouraged by this. We know we’re living in a time where darkness has a lot of power. But we also know and believe this will all be shifting soon. The coming of our Lord is near.”.Of course, that kind of thinking will be mocked. Canada’s no longer a country where individual faith — particularly Christian — is respected and protected.
