A small church in northern Illinois has defied crowd restrictions in the state’s latest stay-at-home order, holding a Sunday service with dozens of people.

A SMALL church in northern Illinois defied crowd restrictions in the state’s latest stay-at-home order, holding a Sunday service with dozens of people.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s extension of the order, which took effect Friday and lifts May 30, allows for small safe worship, limited to groups of 10 along with other social distancing measures.

However, roughly 100 people attended services at The Beloved Church in Lena, according to WREX-TV, which was denied entrance but interviewed attendees and neighbors who counted how many people went in.

Officials with the evangelical church have sued in federal court arguing Pritzker’s order violates the First Amendment right to free religious practice.

Worshippers stood with their families, but stayed 6 feet away from others and were provided hand sanitizer and masks, according to Thomas Ciesielka, a spokesman for the Thomas More Society, which represents the church in court.

Pritkzer has said he understands the frustrations, but the rules are in place to keep people safe.

More than 2,500 Illinoisans have died after testing positive for COVID-19. More than 58,000 people in the state have tested positive, according to public health officials