The pastor of Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, said during a recent interview on "The Megyn Kelly Show" that he considers it a blessing that his church has fielded slanderous insults since former CNN anchor Don Lemon and a group of leftist agitators stormed their service in January.

Pastor Jonathan Parnell told Kelly last Thursday that Lemon's accusations of racism and white supremacy toward his congregation were "ridiculous."

Pastor Jonathan Parnell from Cities Church in St. Paul reacts to Don Lemon smearing him and his congregants as white supremacists:

"The Bible tells us that when we're insulted, we should receive it as a blessing." pic.twitter.com/oTF9zZ1SBy

— The Megyn Kelly Show (@MegynKellyShow) March 6, 2026

A mob led by activists with ties to Racial Justice Network and Black Lives Matter Minnesota disrupted Parnell's sermon on Jan. 18 to protest that one of the pastors at Cities Church was also serving as the acting director of the ICE St. Paul field office. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced last week that 30 more people have been indicted for their alleged involvement in the protest, which followed the indictment of nine others, including Lemon.

Speaking with Kelly, Parnell responded to a clip she played during which Lemon implied to former CNN chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta that the churchgoers were racist when they mistakenly assumed he was part of the protest because of his black skin.

Amid widespread backlash and legal consequences, Lemon attempted to distance himself from the organizing protesters, though some noted at the time that he had been with the organizers before the incident and provided their crew with coffee and donuts. 

Parnell maintained that he realized Lemon was aligned with the protesters not because of his skin color, but instead when Lemon warned him not to push him while sticking a microphone in his face and grilling him about the U.S. Constitution and Jesus.

NEW: Don Lemon tries lecturing a pastor on the First Amendment after a mob of far leftists stormed a church in Minneapolis.Pastor: “This is unacceptable. It's shameful to interrupt a public gathering of Christians in worship…”

Lemon: “Listen, there's a constitution, the First… pic.twitter.com/joHdCvaXe6

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 18, 2026

Lemon told podcaster and atheist interior designer Jennifer Welch in January that the protesters were behaving like Jesus clearing the moneychangers from the temple, and that the outraged congregants were "entitled" white supremacists.

"I think people who are in religious groups like that — it's not the type of Christianity that I practice — but I think that they're entitled, and that entitlement comes from a supremacy, a white supremacy, and they think that this country was built for them," Lemon said.

Don Lemon claims the agitators who stormed into the church, disrupted services, screaming at parishioners "went there to talk," blames the pastor for telling them to leave.

Says the protest inside a house of worship was meant to make worshipers uncomfortable. pic.twitter.com/xgWmHFscZO

— Libby Emmons (@libbyemmons) January 19, 2026

When asked to respond to Lemon's accusations of white supremacy, Parnell told Kelly that he sees it as a sign of God's blessing upon his congregation, noting that the Apostle Peter told Christians to expect suffering and hatred for the sake of Jesus Christ.

"You know, there's been a lot of insults like that," he said. "And the Bible tells us, 1 Peter 4, that when we're insulted, we should receive it as a blessing; that the spirit of glory, the spirit of God rests upon us."

"We know who we are. We know the work of God's grace in our lives. Our church is made up of people from all kinds of different walks of life. It's been our mission to gather to worship Jesus weekly, to love and serve one another, to seek the good of these Twin Cities."

"We know who we are, and we're sticking to that. We're continuing to fulfill our mission to be who God's called us to be, and when we get insults like that, we're blessed. That's what Jesus says," he added.

"I want to go to your church," Kelly replied.

Parnell also shared with Kelly that many in the church, including children, were afraid that the protest was an active shooter situation. Court documents released in January alleged that the agitators effectively traumatized the parishioners by preventing parents from getting to their children in Sunday school and screaming in the face of young children that their parents were "Nazis" who were "going to Hell."

Last month, Cities Church member Ann Doucette filed a complaint in U.S. District Court for Minnesota against the protesters, accusing them of civil conspiracy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, aiding and abetting, trespassing and interference with religious exercise.

"For Mrs. Doucette, the church was the one place she felt safe from the divisions of the world," her complaint reads. "That sense of security was shattered when defendants transformed a solemn service into a chaotic scene of intimidation."

News Source : https://www.christianpost.com/news/cities-church-pastor-responds-to-don-lemons-accusation-of-racism.html