Religion/ Spirituality

Nuns in Spain are taking a break from the mundane, yet very essential, task of making sanitary masks ... with a full-court game of basketball!!!

At the convent of San Leandro in Sevilla, nuns have exchanged making their famous sweets for sewing much-needed masks, and when they need some time to get away and stretch their legs, they pick up a rock and shoot some hoops!

Ya gotta see the video ... these nuns know how to run and gun, or should we say, nun and gun. Seriously, the ball hardly touches the floor, you'd think they were coached by Paul Westhead.

It's kinda hard to tell which team is which, they're mostly wearing the same thing, but keep your eyes on the nun wearing white, she's dominating the paint like Pau Gasol.

Pastor Tony Spell's got a plan for your stimulus check -- give it away to evangelists who can't pass the offering plate while the pandemic's closed their churches.

The controversial leader of the Life Tabernacle Church in Louisiana has whipped up another controversial idea he calls the #PastorSpellStimulusChallenge ... and it has 3 rules.

First rule is it starts this Sunday. Second rule is donate your stimulus money ... and third rule is give it to North American evangelists, missionaries or music ministers who haven't received any money from parishioners in the past month.

Interestingly, that would NOT include Spell ... who's kept his church doors open to his flock. He doesn't specify if his challenge requires folks to donate some or all of their stimulus cash, but says he's practicing what he preaches by donating all of his $1,200 ... and so is his wife.

His challenge also doesn't seem to consider many people are in desperate need of their stimulus money for food, rent or bills. Then again, this is the guy who packed his church on Easter with zero concern for public health or that of his congregation.

You'll recall Spell also told us his parishioners are true Christians who wouldn't mind dying from the virus because they'd be doing so in the name of God and freedom.

While some pastors refuse to tell worshippers to stay home amid the pandemic -- Joel Osteen is sticking to digital preaching, and getting astounding results.

Sources close to Lakewood Church tell TMZ ... Joel's total viewership this past weekend was a whopping 11.73 million people across multiple platforms like his own website, Facebook and YouTube. And yes, that's a new record for Lakewood.

The staggering numbers cover 3 webcasts across Saturday and Sunday. Osteen's service clearly benefitted from Mariah Carey and Tyler Perry's guest appearances. Of course, it was Easter ... so that alone brings a boost.

As we reported ... Kanye West and his choir weren't able to join the festivities because Ye felt the acoustic's of his Sunday Service Choir wouldn't be effective with them as spread out as they needed to be.

Joel's Easter stats actually toppled his previous record set by Ye and co. last year, when they appeared in-person at Lakewood -- drawing just over 4 million total viewers that day.

As we reported, churches in Florida, Louisiana and Kentucky ... to name just a few ... have refused to shut down, putting thousands at risk.

Pastor Tony Spell wasn't lying about the number of heads inside his church walls for Easter Sunday -- 'cause now we got visual proof ... and it sure looked like a full house.

The Baton Rouge minister posted this photo as the header on his Facebook page following his Easter service, which went down as promised ... and to just as much fanfare as he'd been hyping. There's a lot of people here, and the Life Tabernacle Church building is probably way bigger than just this. Translation ... the place was pretty damn packed.

You'll recall ... Spell broadcasted his ceremony online, but it appeared he tried keeping the cameras off people in the pews as much as possible. Still, you could see glimpses of the crowd size -- it seemed to be quite a few -- and he eventually claimed it was 1,300-plus in attendance.

The pic certainly seems to indicate about how many folks could've been there -- he'd been telling media he was expecting around 2,000 heads or so. Seems his followers were just as eager to get together for church in-person as he was last week.

We spoke with local Police Chief Roger Corcoran who tells us the actual numbers of attendees were closer to 330 for the morning and 188 for the night service ... still much larger than the suggested 10-person rule

As for what Pastor Spell is up to now ... he tells TMZ he's continuing to do the Lord's work by delivering food to the needy. On Tuesday, Tony and co. hopped aboard their church bus and went around town distributing free grub to different families and individuals.

Unclear if he's taking as much precaution as he should be while doing this ... we see gloves on, but no masks. But, maybe a good deed's a good deed -- even if it's done in close contact and with somewhat high risk.

Gavin Newsom's clueless to think churches are not as essential as burger joints and coffee shops ... so claim a group of church leaders suing him over the lockdown.

A group of pastors and church members filed the suit claiming religious services are "essential for the spiritual health of the congregation so that the congregants can exhort one another during these difficult times."

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, one pastor believes they can hold services so long as they abide by social distancing tips recommended by the CDC ... like keeping congregants at least 6 feet apart and requiring they wear masks and gloves.

The leaders claim California's "shelter-at-home" mandate coupled with its "essential workforce" criteria has denied religious groups their fundamental right to continue congregating.

In fact, one pastor claims he was fined $1,000 for holding service on Palm Sunday. The church leaders are pissed they can't hold services ... even after they disinfect churches and practice social distancing.

According to the suit, they're also pissed baristas, burger flippers and laundromat technicians are considered "essential" ... while attending church is NOT.

The battle between governors and churches boiled over this Easter ... with more than a handful defying "shelter-at-home" orders.

The evangelical pastor who vowed to keep preaching unless he was "in jail or the hospital" has died of COVID-19 ... only weeks after defiantly opening his church doors.

Bishop Gerald Glenn showed off his jam-packed congregation back on March 22 at the New Deliverance Evangelistic Church in Richmond, VA ... telling followers to stand up and prove their numbers ... despite social distancing guidelines and warnings against large gatherings in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

His church announced that Glenn died on, of all days, Easter Sunday from COVID-19 a week after testing positive for the novel coronavirus.

During that infamous in-person service, the Bishop said he firmly believed God was larger than the virus and said he was proud of being "controversial" for violating safety protocols. The Bishop also claimed he was an "essential" worker, saying he's a preacher and he talks to God.

The Bishop's wife, Marcietia Glenn, is also infected with COVID-19.

Kanye West and his Sunday Service Choir were slated to join Joel Osteen for a special Easter performance ... but it's been canceled for safety concerns.

Sources with knowledge tell TMZ Joel and Kanye were in contact Friday working out the final details of Sunday's virtual spot. We're told Kanye and choir were going to be in Los Angeles and record a few songs for Joel.

Kanye's choir -- which at times has more than 100 members -- were planning to wear masks and maintain appropriate social distancing positions. However, once everything was laid out, Kanye decided it just didn't feel safe enough for everyone involved, and he couldn't carry out his vision, so he decided to pull the plug.

All is certainly not lost for Joel's Easter Sunday though ... as we reported, he'll still have Mariah Carey performing "Hero" and Tyler Perry to offer words of encouragement to those who tune in to the online service.

Pastor Tony Spell's plan to put his flock in danger of catching the coronavirus on Easter Sunday won't be thwarted by police ... but it will be watched closely.

Baton Rouge Central PD Chief Roger Corcoran tells us he believes Pastor Spell's defying state guidelines purely to gain publicity for himself and his Life Tabernacle Church.

He also says it's not a First Amendment issue because Spell is jeopardizing the health of his parishioners and all Louisiana residents.

Despite that, Chief Corcoran tells us police will not interfere with the pastor's scheduled Easter Sunday service, which is expected to draw more than 1,000 faithful -- a clear violation of the state's stay-at-home orders.

Instead, we're told cops will document the gathering and present it as evidence to the District Attorney for future prosecution.

We broke the story ... Spell claims his congregation of true Christians wouldn't mind dying from COVID-19 because they'd do so in the name of God and freedom.

The pastor's been previously cited for violating the state mandate, but went ahead and held a huge Palm Sunday service anyway.

The police chief says he personally spoke with Spell and asked him to obey the Governor's order. He claims the pastor said he would, but then didn't.

"If they die ... they die."

Yes, a now-infamous Louisiana pastor got all "Rocky IV" on us ... saying, if any of his church members die from the virus, they'll have done so in the name of God and freedom.

Tony Spell, leader of Life Tabernacle Church in Baton Rouge, tells TMZ ... he thinks true Christians do not mind dying from COVID-19. He insists that what they fear instead is living in fear. As he puts it, "People that can prefer tyranny over freedom do not deserve freedom."

He's also not flinching at medical experts suggesting most of the nation will eventually contract the virus, even if only mildly. Spell's reaction is, "Let's get on with life."

As you've probably heard ... Spell's been defiant of Louisiana's shelter-at-home order. He opened his church last week for Palm Sunday where over 1,000 members attended. He had previously been arrested and charged for violating the state mandate.

Watch the video, Spell is sticking to his guns for Easter Sunday too. He was totally unswayed by our producer suggesting a different approach.

Joel Osteen's got famous friends in various places, but they all have a shared goal -- making his Easter Sunday service an inspirational, and virtual, one for the ages.

The Lakewood Church pastor told us how he happened to get Mariah Carey, Kanye West and Tyler Perry on board for this coming Sunday. We know Joel's partnered with Kanye before, but he told us he's also old pals with Mariah.

He says MC actually reached out to him about doing a special tribute to healthcare workers and first responders. Watch the clip, he revealed what she's got planned.

Osteen admitted he has less info on what Kanye's going to do with his famed Sunday Service choir ... except he's been told they will be socially distancing. No small feat for that choir.

As for Perry ... Joel says he's a powerful speaker and a friend of megachurch church in Houston -- so he reached out to the movie mogul to deliver a specific message.

While Rev. O's been delivering his sermons online for several weeks -- just as he will on Easter -- we asked him about other preachers who've defied CDC guidelines for mass gatherings. He didn't defend or admonish them, but gave his own reasoning. Sounds like he's listening to experts, as well as his Big Boss.

BTW, quarantine life's brought a big, somewhat amusing, change for Joel. Check out Wednesday's "TMZ Live," because we got into it with him.

Joel Osteen's still going big with his Easter service amid the coronavirus pandemic, but of course -- for safety purposes -- all the big names he's recruited will be performing remotely ... for a virtual service.

Sources close to Osteen tell TMZ ... his Lakewood Church in Houston will welcome Kanye West, Mariah Carey and Tyler Perry on Easter Sunday to deliver messages of love and support to his massive audience.

Our sources say Mariah will be part of a special tribute to medical professionals and first responders putting their lives on the line in the battle against COVID-19. We're told she's going to sing her song "Hero" via webcam.

Perry's plan is to deliver words of encouragement to the viewers during this trying time, and Kanye will be back with his choir to provide music for the service ... all while practicing proper social distancing.

Our sources say Kanye and his Sunday Service crew will be performing in L.A. and it will be broadcast over Osteen's megachurch feed.

It's unclear if all these performances will be live or prerecorded, but either way ... it will be one of the most star-studded church events ever.