Reformation Charlotte has published many stories about churches and highly popular parachurch ministries throwing their support behind vaccine mandates and churches even going out of their way to impose these mandates upon their congregations as a requirement for corporate worship. As we reported at our sister site, The Dissenter, the entire concept of mandatory vaccinations is rooted in Marxist thought. It’s not that we take a particular side on the efficacy of vaccines in general, it’s that we believe that the choice to inject a chemical concoction into one’s body should be an issue of one’s own conscience and personal decision.

Reformation Charlotte also reported that a Baptist church in Atlanta would not be allowing unvaccinated people to worship corporately among the saints. After reviewing the church’s website, it became increasingly clear that this restriction would be a blessing in disguise for the members of the church who would be forced to find another congregation. The church is clearly influenced and driven by the pagan culture and given over to carnal ideologies. There is little–if any–gospel at that church.

Further, highly popular Evangelical parachurch organizations like The Gospel Coalition and the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) have expressed support for government-enforced vaccine mandates even in churches–and both have denounced religious exemptions for these mandates.

John Piper threw his support behind the vaccine-for-all movement citing debunked statistics and twisting the Scriptures to argue that Christians should just get the jab and Russell Moore, the former head of the ERLC has repeatedly platformed Francis Collins, a sadomasochist masquerading as a Christian and former head of the NIH, as the man we should “trust” for vaccine advice.

All this to say that it should come as no surprise that churches are still segregating their congregations based on vaccine status. Yet, for some reason, it still surprises–and should horrify us–that churches, particularly those who’ve branded themselves as conservative, Bible-believing churches, are choosing to do so.

Redeemer Church, which was founded and pastored by Tim Keller, is doing something arguably even worse than disallowing the unvaccinated from corporate worship–they are segregating them to a separate floor. Keller–who has spent most of his life fanning the flames of social justice and decrying “systemic injustices” which he’s argued place minorities at a disadvantage–is now at the forefront of a church policy that will negatively impact minorities the most. Not that ethnicity should matter; church segregation based on any qualification other than profession of faith is strictly prohibited by Scripture:

I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. –1 Corinthians 1:10

Of course, I argue that this in-house segregation (division) is worse than the churches that are simply not allowing the unvaccinated in, to begin with, because at least those who are turned away will be forced to go seek out a biblical church. Redeemer clearly is not. Redeemer is requiring the vaccinated and the unvaccinated to pre-register for worship service and those who are unvaccinated must sit on the second floor–away from the truly redeemed (vaccinated)–and muzzle their faces with cloth.

No, this is real, and it’s literally listed on the church’s website:

Individuals who are fully vaccinated (two weeks have elapsed since your final dose or single-shot dose) are welcome to sit on the main floor of the sanctuary without social distancing and masks will be optional. Pre-registration will be required, but no seat assignments will be made. Children under the age of 12 who are not yet vaccine eligible, and under the age of 16 who have not yet been able to be vaccinated, may accompany and be seated with a fully-vaccinated parent.

Individuals who are not fully vaccinated or desire to continue to wear masks and socially distance are welcome to sit in the balcony where there is more space to accommodate social distancing.

That such a notion could even be fathomable in mainstream American Evangelical churches is horrifying. We would expect this out of the mainline liberal apostate denominations. And while Keller, himself, is certainly a dangerous false teacher not worth following, he is considered mainstream within a (somewhat) conservative denomination. The fact is that if this can go on at Keller’s church, you can rest assured that it’s going to happen at a lot of churches. And churches that do this should not, under any circumstances, be considered churches at all.