Sean Feucht is an American activist, Christian singer, songwriter and volunteer worship leader at Bethel Church in Redding, California. He ran as a Republican in California's 3rd Congressional District.Feucht has been both criticized and lauded for holding various Christian worship concerts in mid-2020 during and in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic. The concerts were held to protest government restrictions on religious gatherings because of the pandemic.
Feucht was born in Montana and moved to Virginia. He graduated from Oral Roberts University and embarked on a journey across America leading evangelistic worship events wherever he was invited. His base was in Dallas, Texas, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Redding, California. He became worship leader at Bethel Church and joined their record label. He has recorded 22 music albums and co-authored 5 books. He founded the organization Burn 24-7 in his college dorm room, which has planted over 300 chapters in more than 60 countries called "furnaces" that seek to hold "24-7-365 worship, prayer and supernatural explosive outreach." He has led evangelistic worship concerts and missionary trips to Afghanistan, Iraq, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Uganda, among other nations.
Feucht and 50 other worship leaders visited President Donald Trump for a faith briefing at the White House amid the run-up to the first impeachment of Trump in December 2019. Feucht said of the event, "We just laid our hands on him and prayed for him. It was like a real intense, hardcore prayer. It was so wild."
2020 congressional campaign
Feucht ran as a Republican for California's 3rd congressional district in 2020, coming in third place with 14% of the votes, finishing behind John Garamendi and Tamika Hamilton in the March 3 primary. Feucht ran a socially conservative campaign, which was against high taxes and staunchly critical of abortion calling it "the slaughter of the unborn and the newborn." Some other issues he wanted to focus on were homelessness and affordable housing in California, and he wanted to give parents more rights regarding mandatory vaccination and sex education. Despite running for Congress, he does not see himself as a politician.
Concerts during the COVID-19 pandemic
During the later half of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic was ongoing, Feucht arranged worship concerts across the United States that drew crowds of thousands to protest government restrictions on religious gatherings. These concerts were later expanded to focus on cities with George Floyd protests. Feucht stated, "We just feel this call to really target cities that are under extreme turmoil and despair and brokenness" and said it was a new Jesus Movement. Bethel Church, where Feucht is a worship leader, did not financially support him, but wrote a statement of support for his movement and vision.In June 2020, Feucht held a worship session at the site of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota and claimed a revival was happening, calling it the "Minneapolis miracle" and the "HOPE RALLY." Feucht called the killing an "injustice" and referred to it as "the trauma" but was critical of Black Lives Matter's support for gender identity politics and abortion rights in online posts prior to the worship session. He claimed on Twitter afterwards that he and senior Bethel pastor Beni Johnson were censored by Twitter and Instagram for sharing videos of the events and posting Bible verses. His posts were shared by senator Josh Hawley who stated "Cancel culture meets #BigTech. Now @instagram is censoring a Christian worship leader who wants to post videos of praise and worship from places where there has recently been unrest."In August 2020, Feucht led similar worship concerts called "Riots to Revival" in Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington. The sites of the concerts had recently been the sites of major protests and riots, including Seattle's Cal Anderson Park which had been part of the territory controlled by the Capitol Hill Organized Protest. The concerts violated local laws requiring masks and social distancing amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Feucht claimed that between 4,000 and 7,000 attended the concert in Portland.In September 2020, Feucht attempted to hold a Labor Day "prayer rally" at Seattle's Gas Works Park, but after the city closed off all its major parks for the holiday due to expected overcrowding, Feucht held the rally in the street across from the park. He originally failed to get a permit, but the city allowed the rally when he called it a "worship protest". Hundreds packed the street tightly, mostly without wearing face masks. Later that month, following a concert in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the site of the Kenosha protests, Feucht was prevented from holding a concert on the South Side of Chicago after police threatened to take action against him for not having a permit for the event.At the end of December 2020, Feucht planned to hold multiple events around Los Angeles against the wishes of local activists and homeless advocates and in violation of local health orders.
Byrd, Andy; — (September 1, 2010). Fire and Fragrance : From the Great Commandment to the Great Commission. Destiny Image Publishers. ISBN 978-0768432909.
Lucier, Art; Garlington Sr., Joseph; Lockhart, Sandy; Billman, Nic; Brundidge, Caleb; —; Gibson, Vince; Meyer, Julie; Mitchell, Steve; King, Patricia (November 1, 2011). Worship The King: An Inspiring Devotional That Draws the Heart Into His Presence.
