Judge finds there is no court order blocking John MacArthur's church from holding indoor services

The Los Angeles County Superior Court on Thursday said there is no court order blocking Pastor John MacArthur and his Grace Community Church from holding indoor services, in California, according to reports. MacArthur and his church have been at odds with authorities over holding the services.

"Judge Mitchell L. Beckloff correctly found there is no court order prohibiting Grace Community Church from holding indoor services," Thomas More Society Special Counsel Jenna Ellis said in a statement.

"LA County continues to harass and target Pastor MacArthur. Having failed to get a court order to shut down the church they have sought three times, they’re going to try again by hauling us back into court," Ellis said.

"Ironically, LA County said in its application for contempt that, ‘Grace Church cannot thumb its nose at the court when decisions don’t go its way,’ yet that’s precisely what LA County is now doing themselves,” said Ellis, who is one of the attorney's representing the church and MacArthur during their legal battle. 

MacArthur and the church earlier this month lodged a suit against the state and county officials after the pastor received a letter in late July from an attorney representing Los Angeles County warning of possible penalties for indoor services. 

The church gathered last weekend after a California Superior Court judge last week rejected the county's request for a temporary restraining order, but the county then requested that the pastor and the church be held in contempt of court, according to the Thomas More Society.