The protesters who entered Cities Church in St Paul did not disrupt a Christian worship service.

[lees1975]

https://signalpress.blogspot.com/2026/01/silence-adds-to-hypocrisy-and-past.html

The real question that needs to be asked, and answered, regarding the protest which took place inside Cities Church in St. Paul during a recent worship service is just exactly how far outside of the gospel of Jesus this congretation is willing to go. There's a lot of hypocrisy here, including the silence of the congregation regarding the suffering being inflicted on their neighbors by ICE and having one of their own pastors involved in it. And even more in the complaining and whining about protesters disrupting their church service, while ICE agents are barging into church worship services in multiple locations in order to drag worshippers out.

Pam Bondi's shrieking and lip flapping about not tolerating the disruption of church services is an empty, hypocritical lie. She is well aware, from complaints filed by multiple church denominations and congregations, that ICE agents are disrupting worship services to enter churches, and drag worshippers out of their pews to arrest them without specific warrants or authority to do so, in violation of the first amendment. This particular protest, calling out a church with a pastor who is a supervisor for ICE for its hypocritical silence and failure to act in a manner consistent with the Christian gospel, was caught on camera to counter the lies of conservative Evangelicals, and Pam Bondi. It was not comparable to the sometimes violent removal of worshippers by ICE agents from other churches.

Cities Church in St. Paul is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, so it's not surprising that the church would not have any conscience when it comes to social justice or that it would value right wing MAGA Trumpism over the Christian gospel. The kind of political perspective and loyalty that would be required of someone to be in a supervisory capacity at ICE is something I consider equivalent to being a member of the Ku Klux Klan. Both of those things require doing things which run contrary to the values and practices of the Christian gospel. Whether or not that justifies a protest inside the church worship service is a matter of conscience, not law.

This is the same Southern Baptist Convention that was formed in 1845 because the Triennial Baptist Convention, the main body of Baptists in the United States, refused to appoint a slave owner as a missionary. It was not until 1995, 150 years later, that the denomination officially apologized for its role in promoting the enslavement of human beings. The racism which drove the Confederacy and was written into its Constitution, that black persons are inferior to white persons, also drove the Southern Baptist Convention and it was a theological and doctrinal error that they allowed to stand for 150 years before correcting it.

That is a clear indication that it can make theological, doctrinal and Christian practice errors in other areas, too. And they are making them in the realm of social justice, especially when it comes to immigration. They are silent in the face of injustice and in the violation of individual human rights.

We have to look at this for what it is. I haven't seen any complaint or outrage about the disruption of church services by ICE agents from the Southern Baptists like Al Mohler and Danny Akin, the two seminary Presidents who arrogantly defended the pastor employed by ICE and shrieked and lip flapped about the protest inside the church which was recorded on camera and does not in any way show any confusion, frightened children, or chaos that they described. I have to wonder if they were watching the same video that I did.

Frankly, I am still opposed to protests disrupting church worship services. However, given the attitudes in this case, and the manner in which this is being handled by both the church, and by the Justice Department, I believe this protest was perfectly acceptable. This wasn't a Christian church service that was interrupted, it was a gathering of a pseudo-Christian cult and considering the issue at the heart of the protest, it was simply a constitutionally protected act of free speech and conscience.

[Haggard Celine]

1. I was raised Southern Baptist, unfortunately, and what the article says is all true.

I'm not in favor of disrupting church services, though, no matter if it's protesters or ICE. They can protest outside and wait for the people to leave. Most Southern Baptists are RW, and some of the things they believe are downright odious, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't show them the basic courtesy you show anyone else in a meeting. Of course there are exceptions, but it wasn't necessary to have the protest inside the church, just like ICE shouldn't be disrupting masses in order to drag out immigrants.

[intheflow]

3. Sweet Jesus, no.

Protesting outside ruins the point of the action, which is, why should ICE fucks be given the sanctuary they deny others? Churches aren't public spaces, but they do claim to be open to everyone. So these people attended and filmed a church service. Not illegal. They interrupted a church service - akin to Jesus overturning the the money-lenders tables at the Temple. False prophets deserve to be outed.

[Haggard Celine]

4. I don't see why it would ruin anything

for them to protest outside. Maybe they decided it would be warmer to protest inside. I guess it was how I was raised, but I was always taught that you don't disrupt a meeting unless there's an emergency. Doesn't matter if it's a church service or a Masonic ritual or just about any meeting. It's disrespectful to everyone attending. Just Southern manners, I guess.

[Igel]

5. I'm not saying ICE hasn't nabbed somebody in a church, maybe even during services.

But all the examples of this I find are of this order:

https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/ice-now-grabbing-people-out-of-churches/

On church property, but outside--landscaper, people in parking lots, People inside locked the doors to keep ICE out, but none said they actually had been opening the doors. That people inside were afraid to go outside, not that the bad people outside came inside after them.

And if we think that's such a horrible thing, there's always the Golden Rule, right, that supposed Xians like to spout: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. Not so much "do unto those you hate viciously, because you know they're after you--so get them first."

[Clouds Passing]

2. Speaking from personal experience, SBC people are nuts.

[lees1975]

6. This has gone to ridiculous, with the arrest of journalists, including Don Lemon, who were just there recording it.

Of course, the journalists and the photos they took make Pam Bondi and the two Southern Baptist seminary presidents who were shrieking and lip flapping about it look like pathological liars, because what they had to say about it cannot be verified with the very thorough video footage and commentary of witnesses. It was an orderly protest, it called the hypocrites out, which they obviously did not like, it did not frighten children or create chaos and the disruption made the point and it was over.

It's hard to say whether a church with the cliche "Everyone welcome" invitation is not a public place. Either everyone is welcome or they are not. And if protesters inside are an embarassment to hypocritical actions contrary to orthodox, biblical Christian practice, and they don't want to be called out for their lies and their bigotry, then lock the doors and post a guard who only lets people in with an invitation. That would be the ultimate result anyway, in churches that exclude people like this one does.