New Brunswick has dropped two outstanding tickets against Saint John pastor Philip James Hutchings for allegedly violating COVID-19 public health orders and obstructing a peace officer while holding worship services last year at His Tabernacle Family Church.
The obstruction charge was laid after Hutchings, 41, allegedly refused to allow government inspectors to enter the church. A church director, Keith Cody Butler also had tickets and an obstruction charge against him dropped in Saint John Provincial Court on Nov. 17.
Hutchings says the church tried to comply with public health orders by attempting to hold drive-in church services around June 2020, but they were physically blocked by authorities at one point. He told The Epoch Times that public health officers “surrounded our church and tried to block folks from coming into the driveway.”…