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Pastor Larry Ihrig faced both professional and personal challenges leading Celebration Christian Center in Livermore during the extended Covid-19 lockdown.
Celebration was one of four California churches (two in the Bay Area) that defied Gov. Newsom’s shutdown order as well as the state agency responsible for licensing childcare facilities. When state officials mandated 2-year-olds wear masks throughout the day (11 hours for children spending the entire day) Ihrig told his staff no. In hindsight, his instinct was right on—as we’ve learned masks were more of a hindrance than a help to young children who were not disease spreaders anyway.
Masks were not required outside, but this was the year of the raging wildfires so it wasn’t healthy for the children to play outside.
Ihrig was roundly criticized for continuing to offer Sunday morning worship services with singing—masks optional. That sparked plenty of media coverage that eventually faded as the media moved on.
What didn’t fade was the battle with the state licensing agency that Ihrig described as a “firestorm. They kept coming. They warned us, warned us, cited us, started levying financial penalties against us.”
He said five officials showed up at 5:30 one afternoon during pickup time with posters containing six allegations of what they believed Celebration was doing wrong and the business was closed. The pre-school and childcare facility serve some single mothers who were faced with untenable choices. He pivoted to call it a day camp (no license required) and said they were now extending Sunday school to six days per week.
Celebration had good legal representation, but it came to a head when Ihring was in the Sierra Nevada and his attorney called to say the state attorney general had won a court ruling and they needed to shutdown immediately. If they didn’t, Ihrig was going to be held in contempt of court, fined $10,000 a day and jailed.
The lawyers and the state officials had been negotiating for about 18 months and, in a master stroke, the church decided to ask for the licenses to be reinstated (something that normally takes two years plus). The state agreed to negotiate and the day camp shifted back to childcare (it didn’t miss a day). After a period of time, Celebration accepted a two-year probationary period that ended in April when the license was reinstated. The only condition was that Ihrig personally could not work in either program—he didn’t anyway. Celebration didn’t pay a dime in fines to the state.
Through it all, the Livermore police dept. had their back. The chief made it clear that if there was ever a call that Celebration needed help on Sundays, he would personally respond.
The church took a big financial hit (tens of thousands of dollars) because the normally revenue-producing programs didn’t have any. They’re still digging out, but was mending financially. Perhaps because of the conservative nature of the congregation they had many families relocate out of state during the lockout and its aftermath.
Personally, for Ihrig, the battle with the state consumed his attention so he did not deal with the rapid loss of 70 pounds in five months (he stands 6-4). He and his wife were in the mountains for two weeks so he could mountain bike and he thought he was going to pass out. He went to the emergency room and they started running tests.
Although he’s never been diabetic, his A1-C was off the scale at 380. They ran a battery of tests and found a cancerous mass between his liver and pancreas. When surgeons opened him up to remove the mass they saw it wasn’t attached to either organ (that would have meant Stage 4) so instead it was Stage 3. He underwent six months of chemotherapy while bed-bound recovering from the nasty surgery.
After the procedure, physicians said for him to expect six weeks or more before he could return to preaching. Instead, with the help of a few staff members and his wife, two Sundays later he preached while sitting on a stool. His core message that morning was that this was Celebration’s journey, not his.
During the lockdown, most churches compiled, believing it was Biblical to follow the government’s authority. Celebration, along with three other churches, took a different approach believing if liquor stores, big box retailers and marijuana dispensaries were open, they could be too.
Looking ahead, he believes that pastors need to address what’s going on in the society, pointing out the history of pastors who wore uniforms under their robes during the Revolutionary War.
“There needs to be a prophetic voice in every nation and it has to be the pulpit. No one else has an audience every week.”
PS—Ihrig grew up and lived in Southern California until he accepted the Celebration position almost 25 years ago. One of the ministries that was already established and flourishes to this day is a biker club. Ihrig is an avid motorcyclist as well as bicyclist so he can be found cruising the mountain roads in the Sierra.
What a wonderful story Tim. As a Christian, I was very disheartened by the majority of Christian pastors who failed their first test during the plandemic (spelling intended). This story of Pastor Ihrig, a true hero, lifts my spirts, as does his Harley connection. I can only pray that other pastors will be inspired when the government does this to us again.