Religion/ Spirituality

President Trump's Press Secretary said out loud today ... she senses White House correspondents don't much believe in God, for daring to ask her why the President is defying some governors who do not want churches open this weekend because of the pandemic.

Friday's White House briefing was a s*** show. Trump wants all churches open this weekend, despite the orders from some governors who want them shut because the virus is still out of control in their states.

A reporter dared to ask Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany if Trump was asking people to defy their governors. She dog-whistled for sure -- urging people to follow Trump's direction and go to church -- but would never squarely say her boss wanted people to defy the governors. Fact is, that's exactly what she's saying.

And, then it got real ... you gotta watch the video. When pressed, she mused that it was interesting these reporters wanted houses of worship locked up like a drum, suggesting they were all a bunch of heretics. At least one church-going reporter became indignant.

In case you forgot ... there was a church service not too long ago, where 2 people had the virus, and it spread to 30 people in the congregation.

BTW ... Trump is flip-flopping more than a 50-pound tuna that was just reeled in. A few weeks ago he said everything was up to the governors. Now he's saying defy the governors.

Tampa's controversial Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne won't be prosecuted for packing his church during quarantine, because prosecutors think arresting him did the job.

Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren announced Friday his office will not pursue charges against the pastor. Warren says, simply put, it's unnecessary now because Pastor Browne's been socially distancing ever since he got busted.

Warren said the arrest immediately corrected the irresponsible behavior -- "Pastor Howard-Browne has maintained responsible social distancing on his church campus while engaging with community leaders in a dialogue about the best path forward for his congregation."

Call it a slap on the wrist.

As we reported ... Howard-Browne was a wanted man after defying Florida's shelter-at-home orders by holding a Sunday service back in March at his River Church. Not only was the house packed to the gills, but the pastor thumbed his nose at authorities, boasting ... "The only time the church will close is when the Rapture is taking place."

FYI, Florida churches are getting ready to reopen this weekend -- but only at 25% capacity and the congregation must practice social distancing.

Two huge stars are joining forces to raise money for Holocaust survivors affected by the COVID-19 pandemic ... by kicking your ass into shape!

NFL star Julian Edelman and NBA Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas have signed on to teach a Trooper Fitness virtual workout class to raise money for the 333 Charity and UJA-Federation.

The orgs say all proceeds will go toward providing meals for Holocaust survivors living in New York who are unable to leave their homes due to the health crisis.

"There are 36,000 Holocaust survivors living in the New York area, 40% of whom are living in poverty," 333 says.

Isiah Thomas explained his decision to join the event to Page Six ... saying, "Watching New York and the rest of the world get hit by the COVID-19 pandemic has been extremely difficult."

"Myself and my family are happy to work with 333 Charity and other organizations on Giving Tuesday to support meal deliveries for Holocaust survivors living in poverty during this difficult time."

The class -- $20 per person -- will take place over Zoom beginning at 3:30 PM PT.

There probably is a limit to what Pastor Tony Spell can get away with, but for now ... he's still collecting stimulus dough from parishioners while dodging jail.

The infamous leader of the Life Tabernacle Church in Louisiana tells TMZ ... since April 19 when his "stimulus challenge" began, 205 people have given at least a portion of their stimulus checks to his church.

We're told this includes parishioners as well as outsiders who don't belong to Life Tabernacle. Spell would not reveal how much cash he's hauled in from these folks.

We did the math, out of curiosity, though, and if each donor gave the typical tithe of 10% of the max stimulus amount of $1,200 -- that's $24,600 for Tony. Granted, it could be less or a lot more. He seemed to be encouraging donors to give their full checks ... as he claims he did.

As we reported ... Spell's been urging folks to give their stimulus dough away to all evangelists who can't pass the offering plate during the pandemic shutdowns.

Of course, that doesn't really apply to Spell because he's not been abiding by the Governor's stay-at-home order. Not only is he still holding services where he can take offerings, but he's also disobeying a judge's order to home confinement due to his recent arrest.

Tony tells us that's not going to change this Sunday either ... he's planning on leading another church service. He says he had 800 people attend last week (though it looks like he added a zero based on video) and expects a bigger turnout this time.

Spell says he knows he's in direct contempt of the court when he leaves his house to go to his church, but adds ... "The Bible commands us to go."

However, Spell tells us he will not be participating in his church's protest of stay-at-home orders Saturday outside the Governor's mansion. He says, "I do not want federal agents to pick me up when I am off the premises of my property." For the record, it would be local cops, not feds ... but ya get his drift.

An Illinois church and its pastor believe the Governor is treating them like second-class citizens during the coronavirus pandemic ... and they're suing to open back up.

Pastor Stephen Cassell and The Beloved Church of Lena, Illinois are going after Gov. Jay Pritzker over the state's stay-at-home orders, claiming places of worship are "no less 'essential' than its liquor stores to the health and well-being of its residents."

Cassell says that under Pritzker's current stay-at-home order, his prayer and worship services are off-limits because religious nonprofits are only essential when they provide food, shelter, and social services for needy people.

Cassell also claims Pritzker's declaration that churches are non-essential businesses "reeks of rank bigotry."

The church wants the court to step in and find the Governor's order of shutting down churches unconstitutional.

According to the docs ... the church believes this violates the constitutional rights to free exercise of religion, free speech and freedom of assembly.

Cassell adds that he and his parishioners are "fully willing to comply with proper constitutional guidelines ... but they cannot abide by an indefinite shut down of their church."

He's asking for an order to keep the Governor and government officials from interfering with church business and let them be.

The pastor adds the orders rest on "shaky legal grounds," but the Governor is trying to enforce them and extend them to the end of May and possibly beyond ... and they've had enough.

The church plans to reopen and hold a public worship service Sunday.

Pastor Tony Spell should be thrown in jail for brazenly and outrageously violating a judge's stay-at-home order and conducting his Sunday service -- actually, his stay-at-home order is really house arrest -- but he's not going to jail.

As we showed you, Spell showed up and falsely claimed his congregations were practicing social distancing -- in fact, the video clearly shows the congregants were packed in. Spell also displayed his ankle bracelet as an act of defiance to the judge who ordered him to wear it after getting arrested for allegedly trying to run over a protester.

Now, here's what's really shocking. The judge could have cited Spell for contempt of court and changed his mailing address to the county jail, but he didn't do that. The judge is worried that Spell might infect the prisoners who are currently in jail, so Tony gets a pass.

The judge wrote, "in consideration of the involuntary population at the parish prison ... to avoid the exposure of this captive population to the defendant [Spell]; instead of his remand to jail until an indefinite date, the conditions previously set on his bond will remain the same."

So, in other words, Spell just goes home and stays on house arrest, until next Sunday when he'll probably defy the judge again.

The judge did say further violations will be addressed, but you gotta assume the same situation will exist next Sunday as well. There will still be prisoners who would be put at risk if Spell ends up behind bars.

Pastor Tony Spell is officially a wanted man -- cops have a warrant to arrest him for allegedly backing up a church bus toward a demonstrator.

According to Central Police in Baton Rouge ... the warrant was issued Monday based on video evidence caught by FOX 44 from a Sunday incident where Spell allegedly reversed the bus upon the shoulder of the road and nearly took out someone who was protesting his church gatherings.

Central Police Chief Roger Corcoran tells TMZ ... after speaking with Spell's attorney ... they expect the pastor to turn himself in Tuesday morning around 10:30 AM CT. We're told Spell is being charged with 2 misdemeanors, aggravated assault and improper reversing.

Spell and his attorney are not on the same page, because the controversial leader of the Life Tabernacle Church, tells us ... he will never surrender to authorities.

Video from the alleged incident shows a white bus reversing toward a protester holding a sign outside Spell's church. The bus does not hit the man.

You'll recall ... the pastor was driving a church bus last week while delivering food to people in his community.

And, as you know ... he's been stirring controversy all month, packing his church on Easter without concern for public health or the health of his congregation.

A parishioner from Spell's church has since died of COVID-19 and his attorney has also contracted the virus.

Pastor Tony Spell's lawyer has pneumonia in both lungs and is hooked up to oxygen after contracting COVID-19 ... TMZ has learned.

Jeff Wittenbrink tells TMZ he was admitted Tuesday to Baton Rouge Medical Center with the virus after his condition worsened over the weekend. In addition to pneumonia, he's battling a high fever and persistent cough.

Wittenbrink attended two services at Pastor Spell's Life Tabernacle Church ... on April 2 and April 5, which was Palm Sunday. He tells us he shook hands with the controversial pastor that day, but added Spell sanitized his hands immediately afterward. Wittenbrink says Spell does that after he shakes hands with everyone.

He also says he did NOT go to Easter Sunday service and his wife decided not to attend either ... given his condition. That being said, he doesn't think he contracted the virus while attending church.

Instead, Wittenbrink thinks he picked it up the previous week while doing his daily business and going to drug stores, grocery stores and hardware stores.

The Baton Rouge lawyer is repping Spell's Life Tabernacle Church in its fight to defy the state's stay-at-home order. All of this as Louisiana approaches nearly 2,000 hospitalizations due to the coronavirus.

As we first reported ... Spell said his parishioners are true Christians who wouldn't mind dying from the virus because they'd be doing so in the name of God and freedom.

Spell's church was packed on Easter Sunday ... and it seems nothing will stop him from continuing to do so. He's already been arrested once, and the police say they're working with the D.A. to build a case against him.

Nuns in Spain are taking a break from the mundane, yet very essential, task of making sanitary masks ... with a full-court game of basketball!!!

At the convent of San Leandro in Sevilla, nuns have exchanged making their famous sweets for sewing much-needed masks, and when they need some time to get away and stretch their legs, they pick up a rock and shoot some hoops!

Ya gotta see the video ... these nuns know how to run and gun, or should we say, nun and gun. Seriously, the ball hardly touches the floor, you'd think they were coached by Paul Westhead.

It's kinda hard to tell which team is which, they're mostly wearing the same thing, but keep your eyes on the nun wearing white, she's dominating the paint like Pau Gasol.

Pastor Tony Spell's got a plan for your stimulus check -- give it away to evangelists who can't pass the offering plate while the pandemic's closed their churches.

The controversial leader of the Life Tabernacle Church in Louisiana has whipped up another controversial idea he calls the #PastorSpellStimulusChallenge ... and it has 3 rules.

First rule is it starts this Sunday. Second rule is donate your stimulus money ... and third rule is give it to North American evangelists, missionaries or music ministers who haven't received any money from parishioners in the past month.

Interestingly, that would NOT include Spell ... who's kept his church doors open to his flock. He doesn't specify if his challenge requires folks to donate some or all of their stimulus cash, but says he's practicing what he preaches by donating all of his $1,200 ... and so is his wife.

His challenge also doesn't seem to consider many people are in desperate need of their stimulus money for food, rent or bills. Then again, this is the guy who packed his church on Easter with zero concern for public health or that of his congregation.

You'll recall Spell also told us his parishioners are true Christians who wouldn't mind dying from the virus because they'd be doing so in the name of God and freedom.

While some pastors refuse to tell worshippers to stay home amid the pandemic -- Joel Osteen is sticking to digital preaching, and getting astounding results.

Sources close to Lakewood Church tell TMZ ... Joel's total viewership this past weekend was a whopping 11.73 million people across multiple platforms like his own website, Facebook and YouTube. And yes, that's a new record for Lakewood.

The staggering numbers cover 3 webcasts across Saturday and Sunday. Osteen's service clearly benefitted from Mariah Carey and Tyler Perry's guest appearances. Of course, it was Easter ... so that alone brings a boost.

As we reported ... Kanye West and his choir weren't able to join the festivities because Ye felt the acoustic's of his Sunday Service Choir wouldn't be effective with them as spread out as they needed to be.

Joel's Easter stats actually toppled his previous record set by Ye and co. last year, when they appeared in-person at Lakewood -- drawing just over 4 million total viewers that day.

As we reported, churches in Florida, Louisiana and Kentucky ... to name just a few ... have refused to shut down, putting thousands at risk.