San Bernardino County sheriff’s authorities on Thursday raided a healing church that claims to use marijuana as a sacrament, sheriff’s officials confirmed.
Jah Healing Kemetic Temple of The Divine Church calls itself an open faith ministry and wellness center that “embraces cannabis as sacrament,” according to its profile on WeedNow.com. “Our mission is to help those with an open mind find a higher level of spiritual consciousness.”
The location of the operation was not immediately released by sheriff’s officials and several online listings show it doesn’t have a storefront in Big Bear Lake.
Few details were available late Thursday morning about the operation at the location, but Jodi MIller, spokeswoman for the sheriff’s department, did say that information would be released once their investigation had concluded.
The Big Bear Lake ministry is not the only one to use marijuana as part of its evangelism.
Vault Church of Open Faith in Jurupa Valley is currently involved in a dispute with the city which alleges the church is primarily a pot store.
Brent Fraser, a founder of the The Association of Sacramental Ministries, of which the Vault Church of Open Faith belongs, argued organizations like the Jurupa Valley church are being singled out for their use of marijuana but no one questions the Catholic church’s use of wine during mass.
“No one’s trying to shut them down,” he said in a recent interview. “That doesn’t happen to the Catholic Church because that is their sacrament.”
Fraser said cannabis historically has been used by other religions for many years, and calls it a genuine expression of the Jurupa Valley church’s faith.
