- Welcome back to the CBN News channel.

Several churches and pastors are finding

themselves in trouble with the law,

with state lock downs andsocial distancing mandates.

Our Mark Martin spoke withradio host, Todd Starnes

for an update on some of the cases

that are making headlinesaround the country.

- Todd, bring us up to date on the story

out of Greenville, Mississippi,

where church members were fined

for holding an outdoordrive-in service on Easter.

- Yeah, that's right.

This was a small,independent Baptist church.

Most of the memberswere, in fact, elderly.

And they don't knowhow to use smartphones.

They don't know how to use

all the modern gadgets and gizmos.

So the pastor said, you know what?

We're gonna have church.

We'll practice social distancing.

Everybody come to the parkinglot, stay in your cars,

and we'll do a service that way.

And they broadcast itover an FM frequency.

Well, the mayor ofGreenville, Mississippi,

as everyone now knows, sent the police in.

They raided the parking lot.

Every person there received a $500 fine.

Now, the good news is, thatthose fines have now been

rescinded and lawsuits have been filed,

federal lawsuits have been filed.

And that mayor is, quitefrankly, in a bit of hot water

for quite frankly,violating the civil rights

of those Christians.

- Now there are several

crackdowns like this in several states.

Are law enforcement easing up at all?

I mean, you're reporting on your website

that Attorney General William Barr

and Senator Mitch McConnellhave even weighed in on this.

Break it down for us.

- That's right.

And this is a very big dealthat the attorney general

has weighed in on this situationin Greenville, Mississippi.

But by and large, these egregious attacks

on religious liberty across the country,

you mentioned that they are ongoing.

Yes, that was Easter Sunday.

But just a few days ago,there was another attack

on Christians in New Jersey.

The video of that showspolice officers actually

disrupting, interrupting theservice to let them know,

that they had receivedcomplaints that the church

was not social distancingin the parking lot.

So, these attack arehappening across the nation,

predominately in states that are run by,

or cities that are run by Democrats.

And it appears to me that these lawmakers

are using the virus as anexcuse to target Christians.

- What's going on in California now

where churches, we're told they can't sing

while recording streaming services.

What's that all about?

- Oh my goodness!

This is just bizarre!

But it's really true.

So what is it that they told us?

Well, you can't practicecorporate worship,

but you can worship online.

So, a lot of churches have done just that.

They've moved their services online.

But you're right.

There was one community in California

and they actually told people,

"You cannot have a worship band perform

"during your online service,

"because they mightpossibly infect someone

"when they sing, by breathingon another worshiper."

But it goes beyond that.

And we have this story up onour website, toddstarnes.com.

There's a guy down in Southern California,

in the Anaheim area.

And he was loading hisSunday School lessons,

for fifth and sixth graders onto YouTube.

And the Sunday lesson wasabout John the Baptist.

It turns out, YouTube removed the video.

They blocked the video,

because they said it wasinappropriate content.

So now we have another big question.

They told us we had tomove our services online.

But what happens when bigtech comes in and says,

yeah, you can't do that anymore?

- Wow, even despite all these crackdowns,

churches are still showingtheir desire to serve people.

Tell us about that churchin Georgia, I guess,

paying more than a milliondollars in medical bills

for people in their community.

That's awesome.

- Oh, it really is.

And what a wonderfulopportunity for Christians

to be good Samaritans andminister in their communities.

Which is what we are called to do.

And it's so excitingto see so many churches

across the country thatare standing in the gap.

A church out of Acworth, Georgia,

which is just north of Atlanta.

They're partneringtogether with a ministry

that actually helps paymedical bills for people

who don't have any money.

They raised $1.6 million to do that.

Again, it's a testamentto the body of Christ,

stepping up and takingaction in a time of need.

- That's right, and taking action,

even in the face of persecution.

Todd Starnes, thanks forbringing us these stories.

We appreciate it.