Self-proclaimed prophet Brian Carn is under fire for possibly exposing his congregation to COVID-19 after admitting to experiencing symptoms and refusing to halt in-person services at his Kingdom City Church in Charlotte, North Carolina on Easter Sunday. Carn, preached the resurrection Sunday service without a mask and came within less than six feet of worshippers.
And this isn't Carn's first brush with controversy. The "supernatural and anointed healer" has a history of preaching disparaging sermons against the LGBT community, and once called homosexuality a "spirit of perversion."
In a private audio message sent to church members and obtained by The Daily Mail, Carn is heard telling his congregation how he was "suffering from pain, shakes and a cough, boasting of how he fought the suspected infection: 'I tested positive for faith.' The flamboyant 31-year-old preacher – who claims to have healed cancers and restored sight in the blind - assured followers they could attain 'divine exemption' from coronavirus through the power of prayer."
Carn first made headlines in March when he responded to tightening social distancing rules with a fiery YouTube sermon urging followers to ignore government directives.
'You are not bound by the laws of the land if they contradict the laws of God,' the Jacksonville, Florida-native declared in a clip obtained by Charlotte's WBBC TV station.
'There's an enemy among us, but we must find ourselves in an enormous amount of prayer and you've got to stay in the word just like naturally,' he says in the clip.
'You know when you go to the doctor and you have some kind of infection. Don't they boost you up with a bunch of antibiotics?
'Don't they give you a bunch of medicine to keep your built up? Well, that's what you're going to have to do.
'You can't walk around here, believing that it won't get you and you're not building yourself up in that word. The word of God works and if you believe that you will have divine exemption.'
In an apparent attempt to deflect any blame for fueling infections, Carn urges anyone who falls sick to brazenly lie to healthcare workers.
'Now, I told you if you want to go to the hospital and get checked because you're going through and your body go ahead,' Carn says.
'But don't tell them you go to KCC, please tell them you go to First Baptist Elevation or St Matthews Methodist church. Let's fight the good fight of faith.'
A spokesman for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said: 'The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department has made several unsuccessful attempts to contact Prophet Brian Carn in an effort to communicate the provisions of the executive order. The department will continue our efforts.'
To date there have been 1,231 recorded infections and 31 deaths in Mecklenburg County, where Kingdom City church is based – more than double the death toll and infection rate of any other North Carolina county.