Canadian Pastor James Coates Reveals Powerful Moment When He Was Released from Jail By Tré Goins-Phillips for Faith Wire
After spending a month behind bars for holding in-person worship services in violation of government capacity mandates, Canadian Pastor James Coates was released from jail with thunderous applause.
Coates, a pastor at GraceLife Church in Edmonton, Alberta, shared the powerful moment during an interview with Rebel News’ Sheila Gunn Reid.
“Just to kind of show the affection that we had for each other, in the moment I was leaving, I turned around … and I lifted up my hand to wave,” he recalled, “and the doors of the pod began to shake as the men in their cells just banged on their doors as a sign of support, love, [and] affection.”
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Coates said he was with the jail chaplain when it happened.
“He’s emailed me since then and shared with me that he’ll never forget that moment,” Coates explained. “It was precious to me as well. That just gives you a little picture of how they thought toward me and treated me.”
Reid asked the pastor if he ever got the opportunity to minister to the inmates inside the jail. In response, Coates said some of the men came to the door of his cell “often.”
“Once I got into [general public], I would have guys often come to my door and want to speak with me and would share difficulties in their life with me, and I would share the Gospel with them,” he said. “We’d be talking through a door to each other, but I would share the Gospel with them. That happened often, where guys would just come to me.”
