Calvary Chapel San Jose urges California Supreme Court to reverse $1.2M COVID lockdown fine

June 24, 2025

A Calvary Chapel church that was fined $1.2 million for violating California lockdown orders during the Covid-19 pandemic, is asking the California Supreme Court to overturn the fine.

The Christian Post reports that a petition filed by Advocates for Faith & Freedom, Calvary Chapel San Jose and its senior pastor, Mike McClure, asks the state’s high court to resolve what it terms, “critical” constitutional questions about religious liberty and due process.

In March of 2020, Santa Clara County became the first county in the nation to issue a shelter-in-place order, shutting down churches and other organizations and telling families to stay home.

At the peak of the pandemic, McClure and the church were both held in contempt and fined for violating a temporary restraining order for holding in-person worship services in 2020 and 2021.

The petition alleges that enforcement of the order singled out religious gatherings for punishment while allowing secular exemptions including, nail salons, cigar lounges and construction sites–a possible violation of the Free Exercise clause of the First Amendment.

Attorney Robert Tyler said, “This case is about far more than a fine, it is about the condition of religious liberty in California. Calvary Chapel did what the Church has always been called to do: gather in worship, stand in faith, and care for one another in a time of fear and deep need.”

Attorneys for the church argue that the $1.2 million fine is based on a temporary restraining order that was found to be unconstitutional and is, therefore, unenforceable.

McClure explained, “We answer first and foremost to God. When government commands what God forbids, or forbids what God commands, they have crossed a line our founders would have never permitted and our duty is clear. We gathered in obedience to Christ, and we will continue to stand firm in our allegiance to our Creator who is worthy of our praise. Our trust is not in the courts, but in the Lord who sees and judges righteously.”

Photo: top, Credit: Screenshot: Facebook/Calvary Chapel