For years, Bolin had preached to a crowd of about one hundred on a typical Sunday. Then came Easter of 2020, when Bolin announced that he would refuse to comply with Michigan’s emergency COVID-19 shutdown orders and hold indoor worship services. When word got around Brighton—and around ultraconservative Livingston County—that one area pastor was defying the Democratic governor, FloodGate morphed from a church into a cause. Bolin became a small-time media celebrity. Local politicians and activists borrowed his pulpit to promote their causes, and, all the while, FloodGate’s attendance soared.
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