43 people fall ill at Pentecostal church after revival, 10 test positive for coronavirus

[RandySF]

Several members of an Illinois Pentecostal church are either at the hospital or in home quarantine after at least 43 congregants fell ill following a revival service two Sundays ago, and at least 10 of them have tested positive for the new coronavirus.

In a Facebook post Wednesday night, Layna LoCascio, wife of pastor Anthony LoCascio who leads The Life Church of Glenview, said at least 43 of the approximately 80 people who attended a March 15 service at their church have fallen ill and everyone who has been tested for the new coronavirus has come back positive for the virus which has already killed more than 1,470 and infected more than 97,000 people nationwide.

“We have 43 infected (at minimum) from our church or connected to our church from our last service on March 15th. They all haven’t tested but whoever gets a test done ends up being positive, and we all have the same symptoms. It’s just not easy. It’s especially not easy when you’re a leader and a pastor of a precious church and we all got infected together,” she wrote.

Church leaders said the meeting was held days before the governor’s stay-at-home order. However, it was after officials called for large public events to be scaled down to 1,000 people and for private ones to have a maximum 250 in attendance, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Pastor LoCascio told the Daily Herald that he had contemplated canceling the service initially but because the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the area was low he decided against it, particularly because they had a guest speaker coming and had been promoting the event for a while.



https://www.christianpost.com/news/43-people-fall-ill-at-illinois-pentecostal-church-after-revival-10-test-positive-for-coronavirus-235955/

[dalton99a]

1. Hope they can be revived after their revival

Or resurrected

[Girard442]

2. "We all got infected together."

Passive voice. It just happened. Not like it was consequences of a decision made by anyone.

[Jamastiene]

3. They were being stubborn and tempted fate

and lost.

How stupid are they willing to be? Well, it has bitten them on the ass.

They could have just as easily, very easily, had church services online and avoided this. It's not like churches do not know how to use the internet. Many other churches have been smart enough to have services online.

Those that do not take a few simple precautions are temping fate and thumbing their noses at a very nasty virus, not to mention endangering other members of their families and anyone else they come into contact with, all to be reckless and brag on themselves how they are more Christian than the next Christian. The things they do, just so they can brag that they are holier than thou are endangering others.

[struggle4progress]

4. "Our church has decided to replace Friday Night Bingo with Russian Roulette!"

[DFW]

5. Jumping into a lake greatly increases your chances of getting wet

Just because it isn't explained in so many words in the New Testament doesn't mean God will keep you dry.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

6. It's as if these churches and other group don't have the collective good sense....

to care about their flock enough to independently observe the virus spread along with warning from around the world.....

to make a damned decision to exercise due caution on their own.

I noticed this same passing the buck blaming happening in numerous states including Louisiana, Florida, Texas and others. It always boils down to the money and pig-headed science-free independence.

Anyone else notice their hypocrisy regarding government here?........

[Rorey]

7. If 43 got ill, what's the real reason that only 10 tested positive?

I've been curious about this phenomenon because we've heard it before. A number of people fall ill, but only a portion test positive. Could it be that the test can sometimes fail to accurately diagnose?

Maybe it's just me being all conspiracy theory-ish, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear of rampant test failure at some point.

[ret5hd]

9. They haven't been tested...

gotta keep those numbers low!!!

[Rorey]

11. Ah, I see that now

I wasn't through my first cup of coffee yet.

But, yeah, they gotta keep those numbers low. We're never going to know the true rate of infection, and I think that's by design.

[UpInArms]

8. Ummmm ...herein lies a clue

ut because the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the area was low he decided against it, particularly because they had a guest speaker coming

Have they checked on the guest speaker?

[Takket]

10. They wanted the donations and put their greed above the well-being

Of their parishioners and the community. Awful people.

[hlthe2b]

12. "God helps those who help themselves"...

Seems like these churches demanding to continue to meet without interference might start there.

[phylny]

13. Gee, my precious church has been closed and doing

online services and outreach to parishioners. It's as though God gave us brains to understand science.

[gibraltar72]

14. 10 cases each one infects 4 and so on and so on.

[catsudon]

15. is that

all the republicans in chicago?

[superpatriotman]

16. Their faith was not strong enough

See how easy that is when you have a magical excuse?

[Vinca]

17. Well, isn't their goal to meet their maker? Wish apparently granted.

[kentuck]

18. The Good Book speaks of this:

Proverbs 16: 17-25

17 Good people stay away from evil. By watching what they do, they protect their lives.
18 Pride will destroy a person; a proud attitude leads to ruin.
19 It is better to be humble and be with those who suffer than to share stolen property with the proud.
20 Whoever listens to what is taught will succeed, and whoever trusts the Lord will be happy.
21 The wise are known for their understanding. Their pleasant words make them better teachers.
22 Understanding is like a fountain which gives life to those who use it, but foolishness brings punishment to fools.
23 Wise people's minds tell them what to say, and that helps them be better teachers.
24 Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, making people happy and healthy.
25 Some people think they are doing right, but in the end it leads to death.

[jmg257]

19. Idiots...just plain stupid. Unfortunately i know a few people just as goofy.

And i have avoided those people with a passion.

...so bad he asked me to check on his life insurance, poor thing.) Without the prayers of precious people all over the nation praying, we might would’ve had a different scenario,” she said, pleading for continued prayers.

Layna LoCascio said that she, her husband, as well as the visiting evangelist had just attended a ministers’ conference in the Chicago metropolitan area, where the coronavirus cases have been exploding, just days before the revival service on March 15 and they might have been infected there.

Its ok - shes treating him with garlic.

She continued: "My God is MORE than enough to supply all of my needs, all of OUR needs! Even if He is as SILENT as can be right now, I KNOW I’ve heard His voice before and I KNOW I will hear His voice AFTER!!! He told US!!! HE TOLD US WERE GOING TO THE OTHER SIDE!!!! I don’t care how hard the storm seems in this “sea of Galilee.” He has PROMISED my church dynamic end time revival! He has PROMISED us that we would be a healing place! I will not BOW! I will NOT BOW to FEAR!”

[jmg257]

20. And this fucking stupid asshole pastor. From the comments...

I personally know these people and what happened. They ARE NOT innocent!!! There is video of the pastor in front of the congregation describing his symptoms and saying he hadn’t taken his temperature that day but he didn’t think he had a fever anymore. By the time the service happened ALL the schools had been closed and plenty of warnings given. Now a man is dead because of them.

[Marrah_Goodman]

21. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes

[tavernier]

22. To be fair... and I do try...

When it was first starting to sink in, many of us had that “it will be here soon but not quite yet” moment. We went to a celebration of life on the 6th. of March, outdoors on the water, food, drinks, all old friends. We talked about the virus and laughed at how from now on we would have to bump elbows instead of hugging, but there was still some hugging after tears and a few drinks. But a few hours later after watching the wave literally hitting our shores on news programs, a new sobriety took over.

It doesn’t sound to me like this group was trying to purposely give the finger to Corona and science... more like they were just not fully prepared for reality, just like our group of friends at a gathering for one of us.

We were just lucky and perhaps a week short of being around others who had been exposed.

[jmg257]

25. Ignorance and stupidity. I am sorry - but Im starting to hate people like this. "Not me!"

Pastor LoCascio told the Daily Herald that he had contemplated canceling the service initially but because the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the area was low he decided against it, particularly because they had a guest speaker coming and had been promoting the event for a while.

"We had a guest speaker. We were promoting it," he said. "We made the announcement, 'If you're sick, stay home.' We didn't know [this would happen]. No one knew."

Layna LoCascio said that she, her husband, as well as the visiting evangelist had just attended a ministers’ conference in the Chicago metropolitan area, where the coronavirus cases have been exploding, just days before the revival service on March 15 and they might have been infected there.

They were looking forward to the special service because it was their last gathering before the lockdown went into effect, she said.

[ProfessorGAC]

23. A Note On This

The pastor is one of the infected. He's not hospitalized, but at home recovering. His wife is on self-quarantine.
She's the one quoted.

[DenverJared]

24. Hallelujah

And our orange leader wants churches full on Easter Sunday

What a joke he is

[Ferrets are Cool]

26. ,,,

[GemDigger]

27. God heals, remember?

Carry on. Embrace the disease.