A church in California that has a history of defying pandemic lockdown orders is offering religious exemption letters for people opposed to being vaccinated against COVID-19.

KCRA News reports that after Sunday services last week, there were long lines of people waiting to pick up exemption letters from Destiny Christian Church in Rocklin, led by Pastor Greg Fairrington. Some say they traveled over two hours to get a letter.

Fairrington told the outlet that he doesn’t believe vaccine requirements are “right.”

“America is a free country. We have freedom of religion, and if a person has a moral objection to taking the vaccine, we want to come alongside of them,” he said in a video interview.

Destiny Christian Church, which averages 10,000 people online and in-person for its worship services, recently sent a statement to the Los Angeles Times explaining the importance of the exemption letters.

Fairrington said the church has gotten “thousands of phone calls from doctors, nurses, educators, and first responders, in tears, fearing that their livelihoods hang in the balance because of their religious convictions.”

“The vaccine poses a morally compromising situation for many people of faith,” stated Fairrington. “The religious exemptions we are issuing speak to that, honor that, and affirm that.”

Earlier this month, Fairrington and his wife, Kathy, led their congregation in a prayer for those who work in healthcare, education or other fields threatened with losing their job because they refuse to get the Covid-19 vaccine on moral grounds.

Michelle Mello, a professor of law and medicine at Stanford University, told the Times that she believes the exemption letters are “irrelevant” since most workplaces and the courts already recognize “bona fide” and “sincere” religious exemptions.
(Read entire story at Christian Post)