Watch: Police Try to Shut Down “Let Us Worship” Event, But God Had Other Plans

Police tried to stop Sean Feucht’s Let Us Worship event as they set up in Chicago’s Washington Park.

But God had other plans and the videos are inspiring Christians all over the country.

And what happened next not only led the police to join in support, but even had BLM activists getting baptized!

Feucht and his California-based grassroots organization began Let Us Worship by holding services in Los Angeles and San Francisco in protest of California’s restrictions against churches during the coronavirus.

As the movement spread to 25 other cities, it faced opposition from such cities such as Seattle, which shut down a city park to stop its Labor Day service, and states like Minnesota where the governor had threatened retroactive action for services held in Minneapolis.

But that did not stop Feucht from taking his movement to the most dangerous city in America.

Feucht said he notified police and local officials about the service planned for the South Side of Chicago, but said Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot ordered police to “shut us down.”

More than 30 police officers showed up at Washington Park and prevented the group from unloading musical equipment and setting up their stage and sound system.  Feucht said police initially threatened to arrest them.

“They told us if we set up right now that they would take all of our gear and bring us into prison,” Feucht said in a Facebook video.

“But Christians are rising up.  This is our new day for the Church.  This is our 26th city and we are not about to stop now.”

The service was held as Chicago has been victimized by rioting, looting and daily violence.  Murders and shootings are up more than 50 percent in Chicago this year, with 544 murders and more than 2,200 shootings according to statistics.

Feucht, wearing a Chicago Bulls jersey, said the “riots to revival” service was designed to bring peace to Chicago and other cities that have been ravaged by violence.

“This city of Chicago had 63 people shot last weekend and yet they are expending thousands of police right now.  These police officers should be in other parts of the city, not stopping Christians from freely worshipping,” he said.

“This is what we are dealing with in America right now.  These politicians that are full of godlessness would rather expend resources of their agencies to block Christians.”

“… These pastors are tired of murder in their city, they’re tired of violence and they want to gather together to peacefully pray to end the violence, and the mayor is having the police come against us.  It’s absolutely unreal.”

Feucht and hundreds of worshippers would not be deterred, however.

Fueled by chants of “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus” and “let us worship,” organizers set up a makeshift stage and worshippers began singing, dancing and raising their arms toward heaven.

“They can’t stop the worship,” Feucht said during the Facebook live stream.  “… We want to be a blessing to this city.  We want to see this string of violence broken. … We want to use this power in our worship and prayer to bring a change.”

“The enemy is trying as hard as it can to shut off the voice of the church but this is the season in Chicago where it is amplified.”

Watch the video yourself here:

Feucht said his group did not blame the police for doing what they were told to do.  “It is not their fault, it is the higher-ups,” he said.

Co-organizers told the Christian Post they did not have a permit for the event but were told they could worship as a peaceful protest, as they have done in other cities.

But when they showed up, police were told to confiscate their equipment and arrest them.

“It looked like the mayor of Chicago was giving orders to make sure there is no worship event in Chicago,” said Dr. Charles Karuku, pastor of the International Outreach Church in Burnsville, Minn.

“These people were completely under the instructions of someone calling shots in the high places.  It was ordered coming from above.”

But when the service began, police officers had a change of heart.  As local pastors began to pray, the deputy chief of police held a large megaphone so worshippers could hear better.

“We love the police, and we pray the blessings of God on you and your family,” Dr. Karuku said.

“Chicago needs Jesus. We bring a message of unity, we bring a message of healing.”

When Karuku finished praying, a protestor yelled, “Say you love black people before you love the police.”

The crowd responded by shouting, “We love black people.”

Karuku, who is black, then pointed to his wife, who is white, and said, “She loved the black people enough to marry one.”

“Every single life is valuable to God,” said Karuku’s wife, Lindsey, who is also a pastor.  “It doesn’t matter the skin color or nationality.  Every single person on this earth was created by God and valuable.”

“We love black lives, we love brown lives, we love everybody, including our enemies.  That’s what Jesus taught, to love everybody.”

As the crowd began to swell to more than a thousand and organizers and worshippers prayed with individual police officers, Feucht said on Facebook live, “We knew Chicago would be crazy, but we didn’t know it would be this crazy.”

“We’ve got to find great again, we’ve got to find passion, we’ve got to find courage.  That’s what you are seeing right now.”

Police officers watching the event on Facebook Live appreciated the support shown to their fellow officers.

“I am a Christian and an officer,” Daniel Derrick wrote.  “I have goose bumps watching this.   God bless those officers.”

“There is no way I could ever enforce stopping this,” police officer James Mark said. “Praise God, and all glory be given to God.”

At the end of the service, which lasted about two and a half hours, Feucht led the group on a 30-minute worship march through the streets where an estimated 30 people were baptized.

Not only had police joined in, but an activist wearing a Black Lives Matter t-shirt accepted the Lord and was baptized as well.  Watch the video yourself here:

“We didn’t even have a place to set up a baptismal,” Karuku told the Christian Post.  “So people were baptized from a baptismal loaded on the back of a truck.”

“That is the length we had to go through to be able to have an event in America.”

“This is historic tonight,” Feucht said at the end of the Facebook Live stream.

“What is happening right here, what you are seeing all around the world, is a church in Chicago that is unwilling to be quiet.  They will not cower to politicians seeking to snuff out the voice of the church.”

“I pray that its testimony will become your testimony in your city and your nation across the world.”

The following night, Let Us Worship traveled to Cleveland, where police blocked Edgewater Park and wrote Feucht a citation for not having a permit.

But that did not stop the group from worshipping with more than 3,000 Christians.

“CLEVELAND MESSED ME UP TONIGHT!” Feucht tweeted.  “Police barricaded the park (and gave us a citation) but that didn’t stop 3,000 Ohioans trekking 1-2 miles up a hill worship!  So so so many gave their lives to Jesus and were baptized in Lake Erie!!”

Let Us Worship has events planned in Florida and Texas before holding a service on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 25th, just 10 days before the presidential election.  Feucht said the group has already obtained a permit for the Washington event.

“What God is doing is really, really historic,” he said.

Please pray for Feucht and his Let Us Worship ministry.  To support the organization, go to LetUsWorship.us.