Attendance Craters At Branch Covidian Church After Death Of Parishioner, Pastor Says Head Count Is A Lie

The Baton Rouge Advocate reports:

Attendance at a Central church headed by a pastor who has defied Louisiana’s attempts to restrict crowd size appears to be shrinking from recent weeks, police said Sunday, as the pastor brushed off law enforcement head counts as untrue. ”

Sunday’s service at Life Tabernacle Church attracted about 130 people, down from nearly 500 who attended last week’s Easter services, according to police who’ve been counting the heads of people entering the church.

The attendance drop logged by law enforcement follows the recent death of a church congregant and the hospitalization of a lawyer tapped to represent the church’s battle against Gov. John Bel Edwards’ order limiting crowd sizes to less than 50 people.

Regarding the head count, Pastor Tony Spell says, “The cops are liars. Second, never trust a cop after this pandemic.”