A Canadian pastor who reportedly spent a week in solitary confinement after keeping his church open during the pandemic said he believes Canadians are poised to experience a spiritual renaissance.
A federal judge dismissed charges against Pastor Phil Hutchings of Higher Life Church in Saint John, New Brunswick, last week, following a legal saga that began when he was arrested in 2021 for conducting religious services in defiance of a provincial health order. .
“We just took a hard line because we found that the mandates just conflicted with our faith in what we stood for,” Hutchings told Fox News Digital. “For us, it wasn’t about bullying. It wasn’t a fight against man attitude. It just conflicted with what we believe in as a church. We believe in coming together.”
After a Canadian Thanksgiving service, the government “really started to go crazy on us,” Hutchings said. He claimed that he was subjected to a week in solitary confinement after he and his associate pastor Cody Butler were arrested.
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Mugshot of Pastor Phil Hutchings after he was arrested in 2021 for continuing to hold religious services in defiance of a provincial health order. (Phillip Hutchings)
The clergymen did not cooperate with authorities who tried to disrupt the church service, citing a section of Canadian law that prohibits disturbing religious services, Hutchings said.
“They surrounded our church,” Hutchings recalled. “It looked like a Mexican drug cartel was collapsing.”
‘Something out of a movie’
“People at our church just couldn’t believe this was really happening, like so many other Canadians who were arrested,” Hutchings said. “Now we see how low the province will fall just to prove a point, to push this ridiculous narrative.”
The pastor said that for a week he was “basically in a brick room on a brick slab with blankets and pillows” and was only allowed to shower once.
“When I tell you this, it still moves me a little bit,” he said. “I don’t know if my mind has picked up on the fact that this really happened to me.”
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Worshipers gather at Higher Life Church in Saint John, New Brunswick, whose pastors were arrested for keeping the doors open during the pandemic. (Phil Hutchings)
After Hutchings was released, his church erected an outdoor commercial tent in response to fines from authorities for holding indoor gatherings, according to the Feb. 2 ruling by Chief Justice Tracey DeWare of the Court of the Court of King. The court dismissed the contempt charges against Hutchings.
Hutchings said authorities began hanging around his church again after he put up the tent, taking pictures and trying to charge him with contempt. The media also swooped in and portrayed him negatively, he claimed.
Hutchings said police began hanging around and taking photos of the commercial tent his church erected in 2021 to circumvent the provincial health mandate banning indoor gatherings. (Phil Hutchings)
Prosecutors argued that the tent, whose flaps were lowered in cold weather, constituted “indoor public space” and that the herders did not sufficiently ensure that every parishioner was vaccinated.
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DeWare ultimately determined that it could not rule out beyond a reasonable doubt that the tent the Hutchings church was using for services “clearly and unequivocally” constituted an indoor gathering as defined by the then-current provincial health order.
‘A Goliath in front of you’
“It’s like sink or swim in that moment,” Hutchings said of his imprisonment and what his church experienced. “You learn a lot. You learn about the extent of God’s grace and the level of fight he really put into you. You don’t know what you’re made of until you have a Goliath in front of you.” .
“It’s like something was taken out of you that you didn’t know you had, and I think that’s what we realized as a church,” he added. “There was a strength that God put in us to support us through this and draw a line because this was not just for us.”
PASTOR CLEARED AFTER BEING ARRESTED WHEN A POLICE HELICOPTER FOUND A CHURCH MEETING OUTSIDE DURING THE PANDEMIC
A Canadian worshiper raises her hands at Higher Life Church in Saint John, New Brunswick. (Phil Hutchings)
Hutchings said her ministry has thrived despite the legal battle and she believes many Canadians have grown stronger in standing up for their rights in recent years.
He criticized authorities, saying his church was determined from the start that “whatever it takes, we will not bow down.”
“Many unfortunately did,” he said.
‘something scrambled’
Still, Canada’s best days are “right now,” he said.
“Though many knelt before the madmen, many stood up,” Hutchings said. “And now we’re seeing people who are very grateful now that it’s all out there. People are seeing how important that position was. If anything, it’s almost like it’s kind of relighted people’s fires.”
Police move a line of protesters from the intersection of Sussex and Rideau streets in Ottawa on February 18, 2022. (Steve Russell/Toronto Star)
The pastor said he believes “a different attitude” has taken over his nation and that “something moved” amid the government crackdown during the pandemic, which he believes could lay the groundwork for a spiritual renaissance in the country.
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“Unfortunately, some people had to be the spearhead, but I feel like something broke and we’re only going to see positive changes from now on,” he said.
