What is John MacArthur's net worth? Grace Community Church seeks to dissolve injunction against indoor services
The coronavirus situation is still dire in LA County. On Saturday, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported 40 new deaths and 839 new positive cases of Covid-19. And so, guidelines to curb the spread of the virus must be followed. But even at a time like this, on Friday, attorneys for Grace Community Church in Los Angeles filed documents in court to defend their right to gather for indoor worship services.
This is the latest in their efforts to gather for service. According to the latest reports, Grace Community Church and its legal representation will be in court next Friday on their motion to dissolve the injunction against holding indoor services. According to the latest reports, the department’s data reveals that LA County has a total of 23,274 deaths, and 1,221,605 confirmed cases.
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Grace’s senior pastor John MacArthur's declaration was among the documents filed. He addressed allegations from a blog post that his church is not reporting outbreaks of COVID-19 among the congregation.
MacArthur wrote that "of the handful of people in our large flock who were hospitalized or died from COVID-19 over the past year, all the ones … of which I know were people who had remained quarantined because they had other medical conditions that put them at high risk. They did not get infected at Grace Community Church, because they were not attending services. Most of them were following strict health protocols and got the virus anyway." According to a report from last November, the church was cleared by county public health officials after three out of their approximately 7,000 members got covid.
MacArthur clarified that the church doesn't intend to discourage people from wearing masks, adding that they can wear it should they choose to.
"We especially do not want to shame the person who wears a mask purely because he or she genuinely believes the current secular orthodoxy about masks as a potentially effective shield against viral transmission," he wrote. "People in the church are free to wear masks if they choose. But people who [disagree are] likewise free to worship, sing, pray, and proclaim God’s Word without a face covering - even if that goes against the vacillating, sometimes arbitrary, and frequently heavy-handed dictates of government officials. It is simply not the church’s duty to enforce executive orders based on a politician’s whimsy - particularly when obeying those edicts impinge on our freedom of worship in our church."
Last July, the church made headlines for flouting state and local health mandates, following which it was issued an injunction last September by LA Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff ordering them against holding indoor services. The injunction also reportedly required that congregants wear masks and socially distance themselves during outdoor services.
Jenna Ellis, the church’s attorney from the Thomas More Society, reportedly said in a statement to The Daily Wire: "LA County has never been required to justify their arbitrary health orders and discriminatory treatment of Grace Community Church. The facts and recent Supreme Court opinions show that the County and the state far overstepped their legitimate authority."
"Worse, LA County retaliated against the Church for challenging their actions," Ellis continued. "Pastor John MacArthur and the board of elders were right theologically and constitutionally to open their church and stand firm. As Justice Gorsuch rightly said, ‘Even if the Constitution has taken a holiday during this pandemic, it cannot become a sabbatical.'"
What is John MacArthur's net worth?
MacArthur is also known for his internationally syndicated Christian teaching radio and television program 'Grace to You'.
He has written or edited more than 150 books. His book 'MacArthur Study Bible' has sold more than 1 million copies and received a Gold Medallion Book Award. He also used to be a frequent guest on 'Larry King Live' as a representative of an evangelical Christian perspective.
Recently in February 2021, his ministry had to come on record to deny that he makes more than $500,000 annually from his Grace to You media ministry. This came following a report that suggested his private lifestyle is far different than what he preached in church.
“The questions and quibbling innuendo that have been published on the Internet regarding John MacArthur’s income and stewardship are rooted in misinformation. For example, a report has been floating around online for some time that John makes more than half a million dollars annually from GTY. Totally false,” Phil Johnson, GTY executive director and an elder at MacArthur’s Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, reportedly said.
According to the report published by independent journalist Julie Roys, financial statements and tax forms showed that his family run a religious media and educational empire with more than $130 million in assets generates more than $70 million a year in tax-free revenue. It was also reported that MacArthur, his family, and related companies have been paid more than $12.8 million from ministry and donor funds. Additionally, he also owns three luxury homes worth millions.
"That idea is wrongly extrapolated from the fact that GTY’s 2011 990 tax form (ten years ago) reported $400k in ‘salary and benefits’ paid to John. That figure reflects a one-time gift- a rare 1st-edition KJV Bible given to John to honor the completion of his verse-by-verse exposition of the whole NT. It was an expression of thanks for 40 years of faithful ministry. John in turn gave the Bible to the seminary’s collection of rare manuscripts and early Bible editions," Johnson explained.