As mentioned in our Church Rules blog post, there is a culture within the church that generally discourages the use of medicine and science. If a person falls ill, it is often believed that their poor spiritual condition is to blame. Seeking medical treatment is discouraged and only considered as a last resort.
During the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic, Pastor Isaac Noriega and the leadership of the church largely ignored recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to stay home, social distance, and wear masks. For a short time, deacons greeted congregants at the entrance with hand sanitizer and a handshake, in an effort to follow CDC recommendations. However, this practice only lasted for two weeks. Isaac claimed that the virus was started by snakes (Isaac has a tendency to use snakes as a symbolic metaphor for things he considers evil) rather than bats (the common theory of origin at the time) and preached that the pandemic was a "judgment on the world, not the Bride," implying that church members who were true believers would be unaffected. As a result, Isaac discouraged taking precautions and mocked masks and social distancing. It is worth noting that the church has a significant number of elderly congregants, some of whom were at high risk for COVID infection.
Throughout the pandemic, Isaac insisted that the church continue its weekly services and monthly communion rituals. These services involve hundreds of congregants sharing bread and wine from the same plate and cup, followed by literal foot washing. These practices put the church's congregants at high risk for contracting and spreading COVID-19.
During the height of the pandemic, as more and more congregants became sick with COVID-19, Isaac initially allowed them to stay home and skip church services. However, as the number of sick congregants grew, he began to attack their faith and pressured them to attend services, even if they were ill. As a result, the virus spread rapidly among the church's congregation and infected most of its members.
As members of the church tested positive for COVID-19, some of them would attend services and sit spread out in the balcony seating area while wearing masks in an effort to maintain social distancing.
Since the majority of the members were infected with COVID-19, it unfortunately became a contest of who could "tough it out" and continue attending services despite being ill. Many congregants looked visibly sick during church services, with feverish and flu-like symptoms. According to one former member, it was "eerie to hear all of the coughing during service," knowing that those sitting next to them were likely sick with COVID. However, due to the intense pressure and control exerted by Isaac Noriega, many felt that they had no choice but to attend services, even if they were sick.
As the church wide pandemic continued, Isaac became frustrated that some congregants were still wearing masks and attempting to maintain social distancing in the balcony seating area of the church. He demanded that they return to their original seats in the main area of the church, even claiming congregants wanted to sit in the balcony to "look around" This action likely contributed to the further spread of the virus among the congregation.
Church Deaths due to COVID-19
As the church continued to hold in-person services despite the COVID-19 pandemic, with Isaac discouraging precautions and mocking masks and social distancing, the virus spread rapidly amongst the congregation. Several high-risk individuals became gravely ill, and while some recovered, others did not and ultimately died. It is possible that their deaths could have been prevented if the church had taken appropriate precautions.
Church member Joe Zavala survived COVID-19 and hospitalization by being placed on a ventilator and a medically induced coma. Former Deacon Salvador and his wife Elizabeth Zepeda, also survived the virus with a hospital stay.
At least eight confirmed church members of the church died from COVID-19 during the height of the pandemic in 2020.
Refugio Escobar Lopez
Pedro Zuñiga
Robert Chacon Sr.
John R Chacon
Frances V Samorano
Anna Chacon
Danny Chavez
Danny Chacon
During this time, Isaac Noriega's wife, Lucy Noriega, died on July 9, 2020. It is unclear whether she died from COVID-19 or another illness. It is known that she was admitted to the hospital during the pandemic lockdown and that she suffered from several life long illnesses (high risk individual). Isaac Noriega publicly claims that she died due to medical error, alleging that she was given the wrong medication. It is possible that the true cause of her death was intentionally omitted to avoid embarrassment for Isaac Noriega, as admitting that she died from COVID-19 would have undermined his claims that the virus was not a threat to the church's congregants.
No funeral services were held for the church members who died from the virus, with the exception of Lucy Noriega, who had an elaborate two-service funeral. For the other deceased church members, Isaac would dedicate approximately five minutes to acknowledging each death during his sermons before continuing with the rest of his message. This included the deaths of major founding members of the church, such as John R. Chacon, etc.
Sympathy, Excuses and Blame
As the COVID-19 pandemic continued and church members became gravely ill and some died, Isaac Noriega began to blame the congregation for getting the virus because of their "sins." Despite mocking precautions and discouraging social distancing and staying home when sick, he gaslighted his congregation and shifted the blame onto them. This behavior, known as narcissistic gaslighting, has caused irreparable harm to the church members, their families, and their loved ones. Unfortunately, this is how Isaac Noriega operates as a pastor.
Isaac Noriega would frequently cite the church's right to freedom of assembly in order to justify holding in-person services during the COVID-19 pandemic. He publicly stated that they were visited by a health inspector and Issac told him that they were taking precautions and had the right to congregate. However, Associate Pastor Matthew Noriega was also questioned and claimed that the church was following all CDC guidelines, including social distancing and mask wearing, and telling congregants to stay home if they were sick. This is directly contradicted by their actions and suggests that Matthew may have lied in order to protect the church's reputation. He also claimed that former church members were trying to "get revenge" on the church by reporting them and trying to shut down their services.
In order to deflect blame for the deaths of church members from COVID-19, Isaac would attribute their deaths to various causes such as blaming medical staff, medication, ventilators, or the age of the patient. This allowed him to avoid taking responsibility for the spread of the virus in the church and the resulting deaths.
Many church families were upset with how Isaac Noriega handled the COVID-19 pandemic and his lack of regard for the lives, health, and well-being of church members. It is likely that many congregants were considering leaving the church, but Isaac's wife's death gained him a lot of sympathy and he used this to his advantage to avoid any consequences for his actions. As a result, he essentially got away with this abuse of the church during the pandemic. Despite this, some families did leave the church after the pandemic ended.
Social Distancing Allowed - But Only for Pastor Isaac Noriega
Despite discouraging social distancing for the church congregation, Isaac Noriega himself took measures to avoid interacting with church members. He would leave the church service early and go to his vehicle before the music stopped playing. A new rule introduced during the pandemic required that congregants stay in their seats and pray after the service ended, which allowed Isaac to leave without having to interact with anyone. Another classic "Rules for Thee, Not for Me" example.
The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the extent to which Isaac Noriega was willing to abuse his church members. His ego, desire for power, and control over his church congregation were more important to him than the well-being of those he was supposed to serve. His questionable decision-making and authoritarianism very likely contributed to the deaths of some church members. It is important to document and expose these narcissistic behaviors in order to help those who may still be trapped in the church.
Do you have any stories you'd like to contribute about abuse at Golden Dawn Tabernacle / Tabernaculo Emanuel? Please feel free to comment below, or you can contact us below, anonymously, or if you would like us to respond to you, please provide an email address or phone number.
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2 comment(s) imported from the original site:
Isaac is evil — January 15, 2023
This is criminal, he should face charges for this.
Anonymous — January 15, 2023
Este supuesto pastor llevó a las ovejas del Señor al matadero.. Mi pregunta es: Los familiares de las víctimas que hicieron??
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