Hundreds attend Christian revival in North Carolina — most without masks, videos show
A Christian revival in North Carolina on Palm Sunday attracted hundreds of people — most of whom weren’t wearing masks or practicing social distancing, according to videos shared online.
The “Let Us Worship” event was held outside the government plaza in downtown Greensboro and featured people in close contact singing and praying. At one point, worship leader Sean Feucht said people started leaving their drugs on stage in an effort to give up their vices.
“Thousands set free, drugs thrown on the stage, hearts fully surrendered to Jesus, bodies healed — yesterday was a Palm Sunday we can never forget in North Carolina!” Feucht wrote in a tweet Monday.
The event is one of dozens of revivals Feucht has hosted across the country as a form of protest since state and local health officials closed places of worship last year to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Religion News Service described them as “a mix of Christian concert, healing service, guerrilla street theater and spectator mosh pit.”
Feucht was in Charleston Saturday and has two more revivals planned in Tennessee later this week, according to his website.
His revivals have attracted hundreds, if not thousands, of attendees in close quarters with little concern for local and state health guidelines.
In North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper eased several coronavirus restrictions last week amid signs of improvement — including increasing the maximum number of people allowed at outdoor gatherings from 50 to 100. A statewide mask mandate remains in effect.
“People love to send me this chapter, Romans 13: ‘Obey your authorities. Don’t you know, Sean?’ I’m like listen, first of all, y’all need to figure out your government,” Feucht said Sunday. “It’s called the U.S. Constitution — and it gives us the freedom to do this. So we are obeying the government.”
He also told the crowd the “Let Us Worship” movement is “spreading like a virus across America.”
A 30-second video clip Feucht posted of the Greensboro revival showed a woman wearing a mask under her chin leading a tightly-packed crowd in song and prayer.
About an hour in, a livestream posted on YouTube shows some worshipers dumping cigarettes and lighters on the stage after an organizer urged them to part with things “you know God wants to set you free from.” Feucht posted on his Twitter account that “heroine(sic) is being thrown on stage tonight.”
Ronald Glenn, a spokesperson with the Greensboro Police Department, told McClatchy News they were aware of the event but did not receive any reports regarding illegal drugs, nor were they contracted to provide security.
A spokesperson for the city directed questions regarding whether “Let Us Worship” received permission to host the event to a representative from Guilford County, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A representative with the Guilford County Health Department also did not respond.
Sunday’s revival comes as CDC Director Rochelle Walensky warned of rising caseloads nationwide.
During a task force briefing Monday, Walensky said she was going off-script and reflecting on a feeling of “impending doom.”
This story was originally published March 29, 2021 at 2:13 PM with the headline "Hundreds attend Christian revival in North Carolina — most without masks, videos show."
