A handful of churches are planning to hold in-person services Easter Sunday, bucking public health recommendations against large gatherings to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, according to Reuters.

While some churches will be shut down, others plan to hold Easter services online or through local broadcast radio or television. But the Reverend Tony Spell of the evangelical Life Tabernacle Church near Baton Rouge, La., plans to go on with business as usual, pandemic or no pandemic, according to Reuters.

“God will shield us from all harm and sickness,” Spell said in an interview with the outlet. “We are not afraid. We are called by God to stand against the Antichrist creeping into America’s borders. We will spread the Gospel.”

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Spell said he expects more than 2,000 people to show up to services Sunday.

Spell was arrested on March 31 and charged with six misdemeanors for violating Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards’ executive order banning gatherings of more than 50 people. The pastor reportedly held services again on April 5. Local authorities called Spell’s decision “reckless and irresponsible” as the state and other parts of the country have been hit by the outbreak.

Meanwhile in Idaho, Ammon Bundy reportedly plans to gather hundreds for an Easter observance. Bundy has led multiple standoffs against authorities over grazing rights in the Western U.S.

Reuters says another church in Lodi, Calif., the evangelical Cross Culture Center, plans to hold services in an undisclosed location after members were locked out of the church last weekend by the landlord under city orders.

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Leader of the evangelical church, lay preacher Jon Duncan, told Reuters he and his flock were locked out because they were defying local and state stay-at-home orders. He said he and 80 regular attendees will meet at an alternate site on Easter.

Health officials have recently said they are beginning to see signs that social distancing measures in the country are working, but they warned that relaxing the guidance too soon can result in a spike of cases.

In the U.S., more than 490,000 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed with more than 18,000 deaths. The U.S. leads the world in the number of cases by hundreds of thousands.

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