I pastor a small, independent,
Baptist church in south central Kentucky. From the end of March
through April, I attempted to meet the flocks’ spiritual needs through online
services and a couple of drive in services. I was never satisfied
with my ability to lead our people in worship during this time. I am
not a “digital pastor.”
I made the decision to not have in
person services. There was no convention, association, or district
leadership making that decision for me. I believe that at the end of
March when I made that decision, it was the best decision for the congregation
of our church. At the end of March, we had at least 5 families that
had a member that just been in the hospital for a procedure or were in their
recovery period from a medical procedure or had underlying health problems that
made them vulnerable.
I, as the pastor, felt the
leadership of the Lord to resume in person services. On the first
Sunday in May, we held in person services. Our attendance was not as
high as it was in early March as I expected. I spent time
researching common sense approaches to take to keep our congregation safe. Contrary
to popular opinion, I am not a loose cannon out to make a bold statement. I
sent a letter to each family in membership outlining these steps. The
first Sunday back provided me the opportunity to minister to the congregation
both in person and for those that did not feel that they should attend, online. It
was also a learning opportunity. I have made a few adjustments and
feel confident that our congregation will be as safe this coming Sunday, as
they would be at Wal-Mart or Sonic or in an office building.
The governor of the Commonwealth
has issued requirements that churches must follow to be allowed to reopen. Sorry,
Gov, but that cat’s out of the bag. The courts have ruled that the
executive order preventing in person services are unconstitutional. I
have been reviewing these requirements and have decided to formalize my
response to them.
I have taken these directly from the
governor’s document entitled “Healthy at Work – Places of Worship –
Final Version 1.0.” (The requirements are in red). I
will only respond to those that apply directly to my specific Church.
Places of
worship conducting in-person services should limit attendance to no more than 33%
of the building occupancy capacity, including clergy and staff-employees, while maintaining
social distance between household units of at least six (6) feet. This means that
there must be six (6) feet between individuals on a row and individuals between rows,
such that a six-foot radius is maintained around all household units. A place
of worship that cannot maintain this space must further reduce its
occupancy capacity until it is achieved. I have
already arranged our seating to make the 6 feet of distance easily maintainable. I
have no issue with doing this.
Places of
worship should ensure, to the greatest extent practicable, that clergy, staff-employees,volunteers
and congregants wear coverings (e.g., cloth mask or bandana) over their mouths
and noses while attending services. No. I will not
require anyone to wear a mask. The letter I sent out said that
anyone would be welcome to wear a mask if that felt that they
should. If, as according to the CDC, we maintain appropriate social
distancing (as in above), masks are not necessary. They are to be
used in areas where social distancing is hard to maintain.
Places of worship should wait to
reopen youth services (including, but not limited to, Sunday schools)
until childcare services have reopened on June 15, 2020. Once they reopen,
youth services should follow the requirements posted for childcare
services. This does not make any sense to me. If a
young person is safe in the auditorium, following step #1, why aren’t they safe
in a classroom, following step #1? This is an overreach by the
government.
Places of
worship should avoid congregational or choir singing during services, as doing creates
a higher risk of spreading infectious particles. Houses of worship should consider alternatives
to congregational singing, including by playing pre-recorded or live instrumental
music (e.g. pianos and guitars - no wind instruments) during services. No.
The governor should review the Bill of
Rights. Government cannot restrict our form of worship.
Singing is a Biblical mandate for the church. (Isaiah 12:5, Isaiah 42:10,
Jeremiah 20:13, Romans 15:9, and about 14 verses from Psalms that direct
Christians to sing to the Lord, plus others that I have not
mentioned). Again, if we are following step number 1, this is an overreach
by the governor.
Places of
worship should consider taking congregants’ temperatures and asking about signs
of illness before admitting them into the place of worship. If they do
take temperatures, they should
consider using a non-contact thermometer or thermal imager. If a
place of worship must use a standard oral/aural thermometer, consider
having the congregant take their own temperature and relay the
information to maintain social distancing and sanitize the thermometer
after each use. No. I have instructed our church family that
if they are feeling unwell or have a fever or other
symptoms to stay at home. These families are led by adults that can make
these decisions.
Places of
worship making restrooms available must ensure restrooms are only used by one
person at a time and all portions that are regularly touched (e.g., door, sink,
and toilet handles) are
appropriately disinfected after each use. Excuse me?
Does Wal-Mart have to disinfect the restrooms after each use and are
limited to one person? Are the restrooms at factories disinfected after each use and are
limited to one person? I don’t think so. This is
another overreach of the government.
Perhaps the Governor should review the Commonwealth’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act
which requires the government to use the least restrictive means of furthering a compelling
government interest. Unless Mr. Beshear is going to require Wal-Mart to limit their restrooms
to a single person and insist that they be disinfected after each use, he cannot require the Church
to do so.
Places of
worship conducting in-person services must, to the greatest extent
practicable, provide hand sanitizer, handwashing facilities, tissues,
and waste baskets in convenient locations, Really? We have
been doing this for years, it is common sense and common courtesy.
Places of
worship should not provide communal food or beverages to clergy, staff employees, volunteers,
or congregants. I hope that the Gov is referring to the grand
Baptist tradition of potlucks and not to the practice of Communion,
otherwise known as the Lord’s Supper a Biblical mandate to the Church. (Refer
to a previous response for my response to this suggestion; notice this is a
“should not,” and not a “must.” Perhaps they realized the thinness
of this ice.)
The remaining requirements are
either common sense things like proper cleaning and not touching your mouth or
rehash previous statements.
We will have in person services
this Sunday. We will gather, worship the Lord together, and
fellowship together. Yes, we will use common sense to help keep
everyone safe-social distancing, hand sanitizer, no handshaking, etc. We
will not conform to these requirements that are in violation of our civil
liberties, and more importantly, a violation of our sincerely held practices
and beliefs.
You may disagree with this. You
may think we are being reckless and insensitive. If you are
not comfortable coming to church or going to the store, or going to a
restaurant, then do not. That is your right. But it is
our right to do so if we chose. Just as we will not harangue you for
staying isolated, please do not harangue us for living our faith.
