More than 1,000 church leaders from across the United Kingdom have written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson to oppose a proposal that could make vaccine passports compulsory to enter certain venues, such as churches.

They argue that any policy requiring vaccine passports to enter churches would be a “fundamental betrayal” of Christian beliefs.

The open letter, signed by more than 1,200 clergy members and elders from various Christian denominations, was released this month.

The letter was written in response to a government review into “Covid status certification” that proposed that vaccine passports could “potentially play a role” in reducing social distancing restrictions, Premier Christian News reports.

“To deny people entry to hear this life-giving message and to receive this life-giving ministry would be a fundamental betrayal of Christ and the Gospel,” the letter argues. “Sincere Christian churches and organisations could not do this, and as Christian leaders, we would be compelled to resist any such Act of Parliament vigorously.”

The Christian leaders add that they “envisage no circumstances in which we could close our doors to those who do not have a vaccine passport, negative test certificate, or any other ‘proof of health.’”

“For the Church of Jesus Christ to shut out those deemed by the state to be social undesirables would be anathema to us and a denial of the truth of the Gospel,” the letter asserts.

The church leaders — from Baptist, evangelical, Church of England, Presbyterian and independent backgrounds — emphasize that the message they preach is “given by God for all people and consists in nothing other than the free gift of grace offered in Christ Jesus, with the universal call to repentance and faith in him.”

The letter also notes that there is a “legitimate fear” “that this scheme would be the thin end of the wedge leading to a permanent state of affairs in which Covid vaccine status could be expanded to encompass other forms of medical treatment and perhaps even other criteria beyond that.”

This scheme,” it warns, “has the potential to bring about the end of liberal democracy as we know it and to create a surveillance state in which the government uses technology to control certain aspects of citizens’ lives.”

More than a year after the pandemic caused the shuttering of the campuses of Rock Church in San Diego, California, Senior Pastor Miles McPherson welcomed back over 5,000 of his congregants indoors for the first time on Sunday, and it felt like “Christmas.”

“What’s up Rock family? What’s up Rock family! One year has gone by; we are back!” McPherson declared in a social media broadcast, clapping at first and then pumping his fists in the air with jubilation.

“All the campuses, everybody watching all over, God bless you. Thank you so much for your patience, for your faithfulness. COVID came, but COVID did not knock us out. Come on now! God will not stop the church. We are back. It is so exciting.”

While elated that his congregants were now finally able to come together for the first time since the state placed restrictions on houses of worship gathering during the pandemic, McPherson also took the time to acknowledge the loss many of them suffered as a result of the virus while offering a sense of hope.

“Over the last year, we’ve gone through so much. A lot of y’all lost loved ones, lost jobs, businesses, but God is going to sustain you. He’s going to sustain you as we talk about in this new series called ‘Relaunching,’ He’s going to get you through,” McPherson declared.

Speaking with The San Diego Union-Tribune after the service, the megachurch pastor, reiterated how happy he was to reunite with his spiritual family again.

“It was so good to see our family back together,” he said. “It was like Thanksgiving or Christmas when you get to reunite with your family and reestablish your relationships.”

More than 5,000 attended in-person services across four campuses and 300,000 also watched Rock Church services online, the publication noted. But for those who attended in-person, the feeling was special.

“It’s my birthday today, and we’ve been gone for so long that it feels like a gift from God and Pastor Miles that we can all be together again,” said Karla Ghancous, 27, who recalled the first time she walked through the doors of the Point Loma campus.

“I kid you not, the Holy Spirit just caught me the moment those double doors opened and I heard the music. I’m ready to run back in right now,” she told the newspaper.

 “We don’t realize how much we need each other, to look each other in the eyes, to see our faces and the expressions we’re making,” McPherson said. “Because we’re made for relationships. And when you take that away and when you get used to that, you lose something, and you just don’t realize what you lost until you get it back.”

On April 12, California lifted capacity limits on houses of worship after a controversial year when several churches challenged the state’s pandemic restrictions in court.

“In response to recent judicial rulings, effective immediately, location and capacity limits on places of worship are not mandatory but are strongly recommended,” an update posted on the state’s COVID-19 website reads.

The state completely lifted all mandatory restrictions after the Supreme Court ruled against the state’s limits on in-home Bible study and other forms of worship on April 9.