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Vandals Deface Church Hosting Sean Feucht New Year’s Eve Worship Event

By Josh Shepherd
New Year's worship Sean Feucht
The front sign of City View Church in San Diego, California was vandalized in advance of a Sean Feucht worship event. (Photo via Twitter)

Vandals defaced a California church hosting a New Year’s Eve event by controversial worship leader Sean Feucht with messages like “F*** Sean Feucht,” “Christofascists not Welcome,” “Separate Church & State,” and “Bigots not welcome.” Even so, Feucht went through with the “Let Us Worship” event, saying he wouldn’t allow “bigotry” and “hatred” to stop him.

“We’ve been persecuted—all kinds of crazy stuff has been said,” Feucht tweeted on Saturday. “The church has been vandalized. But tonight you’re going to see a resilient church.” 

Feucht also posted photos of the explicit graffiti painted on the property of the host site—City View Church in San Diego.

“The police are investigating it as a hate crime,” Feucht wrote. He added in a statement: “This is a chance for the church of California to take a stand to rise up in unity and to say, ‘We’re not going to let persecution, bigotry, hatred, vandalism, stop us from worshiping.’”

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Feucht, a former Republican Congressional candidate and vocal supporter of former president Donald Trump, has become known for public worship events that blend charismatic-style praise with conservative politics.

Despite the pushback, City View Church went ahead with the New Year’s Eve celebration service. The event attracted hundreds of people, according to photos and videos shared online.

Feucht posted on Instagram: “Worship & Dancing into the NEW YEAR!!!! Nothing is going to stop our praise!!!!! Happy New Year from San Diego!”

In another video he posted, Feucht plays a cover of “Three Little Birds (Every Little Thing Is Gonna Be Alright)” by Bob Marley. “This is the most lit New Year’s party y’all have ever been to—come on, sing it out!” he tells the crowd. 

A representative of the San Diego Police Department responded to The Roys Report‘s inquiry about alleged vandalism of City View Church. The spokesperson confirmed that SDPD responded and the incident “is still being actively investigated by our Eastern Division detectives” as of Tuesday at noon. 

Employing worship as activism

A worship leader long affiliated with Bethel Church in Redding, Feucht launched the “Let Us Worship” movement in 2020 to protest COVID-related restrictions on public gatherings.

Questions arose after clashes occurred at an August 2021 “Let Us Worship” gathering in Portland, Oregon. Members of the worship event security team, whom Feucht praised on Instagram, were found to have ties with extremist group Proud Boys, including involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. 

At the time of the controversial worship events, Feucht was running as a Republican candidate to represent the 3rd Congressional District of California. He finished third in the primary election on March 3, 2020, with 13.5% of the vote.

Last year, Feucht led worship at events in support of at least four Republican candidates. Two of the candidates—U.S. Senate candidate Doug Mastriano of Pennsylvania and Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake—lost to their opponents. The other two—U.S. House Reps. Doug Lamborn and Lauren Boebert of Colorado—retained their seats.

Recently, Feucht has appeared at several “Awake America” events, which have featured various Christian nationalist and conspiracy theory figures.

On November 5, at one of these events in Branson, Missouri, Feucht asked people to “strike the ground” to symbolize victory for Republican candidates. It’s an apparent reference to 2 Kings 13, when the prophet Elisha instructed a ruler to take a similar action.

Several Christian voices online have criticized Feucht’s blending of faith and politics. West Virginia pastor Joel Rainey, who retweeted the video clip of Feucht from the Branson event, wrote: “This is NOT Christian worship. Much more like paying tribute to Ba’al.”

Left-leaning faith-based activist account A9 Collective has called out Feucht for receiving COVID-related relief funds and recent questionable ministry projects. When tweeting about the San Diego church vandalism, A9 called it “public accountability via art.”

Asked in an interview about his politically-tinged ministry approach, Feucht was unapologetic.

“The Church needs to wake up!” he said. “Christ calls us to be salt and light. He wants us to [put] His Love and truth to every facet of our life—not just our families and church, but schools, work, and politics too!”

This article has been updated with a response from the San Diego Police Department and to accurately state where Pastor Rainey is based.

Freelance journalist Josh Shepherd writes on faith, culture, and public policy for several media outlets. He and his wife live in the Washington, D.C. area with their two children.

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15 Responses

  1. Let’s be clear. Vandalism and political violence must not be tolerated in our country, any time, any place. At the same time mixing the Gospel with partisan politics in the way that Mr. Feucht and others do is beyond the pale. The church is NOT called to make the United States a so-called “Christian nation.” Instead, our mission is to proclaim the Gospel, that Christ has come to free us from sin and offer life to every man and woman, boy and girl. When Mr. Feucht denounces medical science because of bizarre conspiracy theories, and mixes Christianity with far right-wing Proud Boys propaganda, he is clearly not doing God’s will, and I pray that Christ will bring him to repentance. (And I have more than my share of sin, so the Lord needs to bring me to repentance for my sin.) Christ and Christ alone!

    1. I agree with Bob whole heartedly , but we do have a responsibility to be engaged when politics attack the Christian faith and it’s hard core principles such as abortion

      The other very disturbing issue with Feucht is that he is associated with a very adulterated church which is Bethel!

      This is not a biblical church and teaches abherrant and very heretical teachings

      Bethel is a church that needs to be stood against for it teaches as noted in 2 Peter Damnable doctrines of devils

      The head pastor is a total heretic and a blind guide that leads souls to hell

      Feucht is deeply involved and a leader in this church , and cohorts with a false teacher and blind guide

      That is a greater reason to stand against this man and call him out as commanded in Roman’s . Paul said to mark them and rebuke them sharply that don’t align ti the core doctrines of our faith

    2. Exactly which bizarre “conspiracy theories” does he adhere to and how is he “denouncing medical science?” I’m just curious.

  2. I truly believe that Mr. Feucht is doing what God is calling him to do. Who else is calling for national repentance? Unbelievers are not going to church to hear the gospel. While I agree we are not to be a Christian nation per se, nevertheless proclaiming the gospel must be done on the streets and in the public square. If ethics and morals are mixed in with politics (i.e., gender issues, abortion issues, etc), then we cannot avoid talking and preaching about them merely to avoid being political. The devil would be thrilled.

    1. Sean Feuct is a grifter on the grift. He’s just out to make a buck, and he can do it by claiming persecution.

  3. The “vandalism” (as reported here), appears to have avoided any real damaging of property, and involves materials and skills that mean that anyone could have done the “vandalism”.
    I would nor rule out a false-flag operation here. The cliches involved, and the words being used, leaving arrows pointing to particular political groupings.
    SF gets massive PR boost, and his core-support are galvanised. He is able to broadcast his core theological and political thesis. The groupings he is effectively at ideological war with, may take a PR hit.

    1. He loves to claim persecution, and has been known to bring “props” to his revivals, and say “people were surrendering their drug paraphenalia” which which was clearly purchased and planted by someone who has never been near drug paraphenalia.

  4. Sean should give a seminar on how to be persecuted. Seems like the overwhelming majority of churches in America can’t figure out how to get people to persecute them.

    1. Much simpler to just redefine PERSECUTION!!!!! as anything other than blind adoration of your Righteousness.

      Or “not being allowed to persecute everyone else”, which has become the de facto definition.

  5. Could be a false flag operation. A lot of people seem to think the “Jane’s Revenge” firebombings of churches and crisis pregnancy centers fall into that category. But those seem to be people who are anxious to claim the moral high ground at the expense of the facts, which have yet to emerge.

  6. I was going to let this article sit and not post, I totally promise! The problem, this church is in my backyard and when I worked in the church world I was “associated” with them. I use that term very loosely as with everything “associated” with SoCal AG Network.

    First, it surprises me that City View an ultra-conservative and quite church like they are would host an event like this. They’ve never been one to, stir the pot per say. Their SR. guy Troy can kind of be a lone wolf, his tribe, doesn’t play well with others type. The congregation is mostly families and sr. Adults, charismatic and leadership movement style of church.

    San Diego isn’t a city that gets the type of vandalism that’s displayed here. Even after the incident at The Rock Church and the tragic death of the young girl there was nothing like that. The last time there was any type of vandalism I believe was when Tucker Carlson showed up, another alt-right conspiracy guy…wait a minute, publicity conspiracy for the conspritist? I wouldn’t put it past these guys! False gospel, false teachers and what’s worse…they are leading people away from the truth with their false truths! They’re calling the church to wake up, all the while celebrating that they’re putting her in a trance with their gaslighting and lies, shame on ya!

  7. My theory is that he or his followers are responsible for the “vandalism.” Why do I say this? Because they spelled his name correctly. The idea that a vandal would or could do that is pretty far-fetched.

  8. “Worship event” means a wannabe Rock Concert by someone who could only make it in the Christianese Bubble.

    “Just like a Rave, Except CHRISTIAN(TM)!”

  9. “…It is great, because it was effected by infinite displays of power, and wisdom, and love. It was procured by the incarnation and humiliation of the Son of God. It was accomplished amidst great sufferings and self-denials. It was attended with great miracles. The tempest was stilled, and the deaf were made to hear and the blind to see, and the dead were raised, and the sun was darkened, and the rocks were rent. The whole series of wonders connected with the incarnation and death of the Lord Jesus, was such as the world had not elsewhere seen, and such as was fitted to hold the race in mute admiration and astonishment. If this be so, then religion is no trifle. It is not a matter of little importance, whether we embrace it or not. It is the most momentous of all the concerns that pertain to man; and has a claim on his attention which nothing else can have. Yet the mass of men live in the neglect of it. It is not that they are professedly Atheists, or Deists, or that they are immoral or profane; it is not that they oppose it, and ridicule it, and despise it; it is that they simply neglect it. They pass it by, They attend to other things. They are busy with their pleasures, or in their counting-houses-in their workshops, or on their farms; they are engaged in politics or in book-making; and they neglect religion NOW as a thing of small importance–proposing to attend to it hereafter, as if they acted on the principle, that everything else was to be attended to before religion….”

    Some of Barnes’ New Testament Notes on Hebrews 2:3

    What little time that is spent in church should be focused entirely on the gospel❗

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