Christ Embassy at the centre of western Sydney Covid breach shut down & pastor Marvin Osaghae banned

An evangelical church in Covid-riddled western Sydney has been shut down and a pastor banned from preaching for at least a week after he 'declared lockdowns over in the name of Jesus' during an illegal sermon.

NSW Police shut down a Christ Embassy service in Blacktown on Sunday night after neighbours reported 60 parishioners for illegally gathering. Initially, 30 people were fined a total of $35,000, but on Wednesday detectives issued a further $14,000 worth of fines. 

Twenty-seven guests were hit with a second fine worth $500 each for also failing to wear or carry a face mask. In total, the guests have been fined $1,500 each, while Christ Embassy was ordered to pay $5,000 for hosting the event. 

The pastor, Marvin Osaghae who hosted the event was served a prohibition order about 6am on Wednesday, which forbids him preaching to his parishioners for the next seven days. He was also hit with a further $500 fine for failing to wear a face mask in a public place. 

Christ Embassy Blacktown will not be able to operate for the next seven days, preventing at least two scheduled services from going ahead.

The Sydney branch of the global church, which was founded in Nigeria, is run by local couple Marvin (pictured below) and Isioma Osaghae.