July 28 marked the theatrical release of a documentary by Grace Productions, The Essential Church. This full-length film looks at the experience of several churches during the 2020 pandemic, including Grace Community Church in California.
Two Canadian pastors (James Coates and Tim Stephens) are featured prominently because their defiance of shutdown orders resulted in arrest and imprisonment. Both their churches were locked down by state authorities.
The story of Grace Community Church is explored in the most depth, both the internal struggles of the leadership to discern the biblical response to the pandemic, as well as the legal challenges that were brought against the church for refusing to shut down.
The documentary effectively ties the conflict between church and state into an historical context, using the example of the Scottish Covenanters to show that faithful believers have always been willing to pay the price for defending the Lordship of Christ over his church. And the abuse of state power is tied to the biblical metanarrative of the conflict between the Seed of the Woman and the seed of the serpent. Satan seeks to oppress the church through the power of the state.
This movie is an important contribution to the conversation about the relationship between church and state, and I hope it encourages an honest and open discussion about the church's response to the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.
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J.R. Dickens is a lay leader in the Presbyterian church and is the author of the 2021 book, Theses for Recovering Ecclesiastical Authority.
