An Idaho pastor who calls himself a “no-masker” and encouraged unmasked church members to congregate for services, is in the ICU with from COVID-19.
Paul Van Noy, the pastor of the Candlelight Christian Fellowship church in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho has been in the hospital for two weeks with COVID-19 according to CNN. Five other members of staff at the church also tested positive for the virus, they recovered at home. So was his wife Brenda, who admitted in a September 4 Facebook post that she had downplayed the virus prior to contracting it.
“I haven’t taken this Covid seriously enough. I’m humbled. I have Covid and some of my friends have Covid now but more seriously my husband is in critical care in ICU with Covid and it is serious,” Mrs. Van Noy wrote. “Please take this serious. Pray for healing. Love each other. Pray for those who have lost loved ones because of this EVIL virus!”
According to the Spokesman-Review, the church closed its door for two weeks for deep cleaning before re-opening for in-person services on Sunday, face masks are not required.
Church members also gathered recently outside the hospital for a vigil—they were not wearing masks or practicing social distancing.
In Van Noy’s absence from the pulpit, the church is keeping its commitment to spreading its anti-mask message by bringing in Charlie Kirk and Rob McCoy—a California pastor who was fined for holding indoor church services despite Covid-19 restrictions—to speak at an in-person church service on September 27.
