Rapp pastor joins churchgoers in lawsuit against Northam
‘Virginia is known for supporting religious freedom’
Sperryville pastor Brian Hermsmeier is among four churchgoers in the region who have re-filed a previously settled lawsuit against Virginia Governor Ralph Northam.
The complaint, filed on Nov. 24, argues that the governor’s most recent executive order encroaches on their religious liberties and disregards the agreement that Northam and the plaintiffs reached in September.
Executive Order 67 permits churches to hold services as long as congregations larger than 25 people adhere to social distancing guidelines; wear face coverings; post signage informing people that those with fevers cannot participate in church activities; serve refreshments only in single-use plates and containers; and routinely disinfect high-contact surfaces.
But the plaintiffs — Joe Sansone and Charlie Sheads of Madison, Culpeper at
torney Mike Sharman, and Hermsmeier — argue that churches have been treated unfairly in comparison with secular businesses and agencies and are asking that churches be added to the category of exempt “essential” entities.
Hermsmeier, a bivocational minister at Slate Mills Baptist Church and land
scape architect, wrote in a press release that “Virginia is known for supporting religious freedom,” and that the “targeting of churches with COVID-19 restrictions tarnishes that reputation.”
Though the governor’s office cannot comment on pending litigation, Northam’s press secretary Alena Yarmosky told the Culpeper Times last week that “Governor Northam will continue to base all decisions in science, public health, and the safety of Virginians.”
“It’s not about me, it’s not about anything I did, it’s about what the lord is doing on this earth,” Hermsmeier said in an interview with Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council on Oct. 11.
“The Lord has been in this every step of the way,” he added. “I don’t know how to fight legal battles but the Lord fought my battle for me.”
The Virginia Department of Health reported a record number of new COVID-19 cases over the weekend across the commonwealth and numbers in the Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District have continued to rise over the past week.
The VDH lists “standard services” inside churches where “large in-person gatherings are held indoors” as posing a very high risk of transmission, especially in cases where “singing, chanting, or other activities that increase respiration is included in the service.”
Hermsmeier could not be reached for comment before this story was published.