Witness: Minneapolis church prayed, sang amid walk-in protest

Church members prayed, sang praise songs, and read Scripture aloud during the protest, attendee Caleb Phillips told WORLD. Phillips, an alumnus of WORLD Journalism Institute, said the protest erupted soon after the lead pastor began to preach. Protesters lined the walls around the pews and then moved to the front of the church while loudly chanting against ICE. Phillips, who was sitting in the third row, said the noise was jarring and caused children to cry.

He said he felt moved by God to start reading aloud from the Psalms during the commotion. He added that he looked many of the protesters in the eyes to show them how their actions hurt the church.

After police cleared protesters out of the church, Phillips said many members continued the service in the homes of community group leaders. At the home gatherings, they prayed for the protesters. Phillips said one child prayed for God to forgive them, for they know not what they do.

“I'm just so encouraged by the way that my church responded to what happened,” said Phillips, who has attended the church since October. “The overwhelming response was one of love and care for one another, and a neighborly love and care for the protesters—even though they were doing a deep disservice and a deep wrong to us.”

The church also held an evening service where lead pastor Jonathan Parnell encouraged members and said that the church stands by pastor Easterwood, whom protesters said had worked with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

WORLD reached out to Cities Church for comment, but had not heard back by noon Monday.

Original story:

Protest halts worship at Minneapolis church; DOJ probes

The Department of Justice began investigating an anti-ICE protest that turned a Minneapolis-St. Paul church service upside down Sunday. The demonstrators had claimed that one of the pastors at Cities Church, David Easterwood, also led an ICE field office and should be held accountable for ICE’s raids in the state. About 30-40 protesters disrupted the church around 10:40 a.m., according to Minneapolis’ KSTP-TV. Former-CNN-anchor-turned-YouTuber Don Lemon and the organizations Black Lives Matter Minnesota and the Racial Justice Network all streamed video of the protest.

Harmeet Dhillon, the assistant attorney general for civil rights, said on social media that the Justice Department is looking into potential violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances & Places of Religious Worship Act, also known as the FACE Act. It prohibits individuals from using force, threats, or physical obstruction to stop religious exercise at houses of worship. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt added that President Donald Trump will not tolerate the intimidation and harassment of Christians in their sacred places of worship.

Is the pastor connected to ICE? Last week, Easterwood was featured in a local news report for defending ICE actions after a free speech lawsuit was filed against the federal agency. MinnPost described Easterwood as the acting field office director for St. Paul’s ICE office. Additionally, Easterwood spoke about leading his ICE team in a press conference with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

What happened during the protest? Videos of the protest show demonstrators shouting for justice for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE agent earlier this month. As protesters chanted, lead pastor Jonathan Parnell pointed at them and said shame on them for doing this in a house of God. He asked them to leave unless they were there to worship. As of Monday morning, it was unclear if Easterwood attended Sunday’s service.

Outside the church, one of the protest’s organizers, Nekima Levy Armstrong, said that the church should repent and remove Easterwood as a pastor.

How have other Christian leaders responded to the protest? The baptist church is listed on the Southern Baptist Convention’s online directory. The president of the SBC’s North American Mission Board, Kein Ezell, pledged to protect the church if elected officials don’t contain what he described as lawlessness. Miles Mullin, the executive vice president of the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said the protest was a gross violation of the First Amendment. He called on state leaders to denounce the demonstration. Albert Mohler, the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary who also writes and edits for WORLD, called the protest an unspeakably evil intrusion of a leftist mob into a Christian worship service.

Dig deeper: Read Lauren Smyth’s report on the arrest of an alleged gangster in Minneapolis.