When it comes to COVID, they put trust in God
Many Christians say churches should defy restrictions
As COVID-19 cases continue to spike in virtually every part of the country, an increasing number of Christians say churches should defy restrictions that public health experts say are crucial to containing the pandemic.
Just 39 percent of Christians now say they would want their congregation to abide by a government shutdown order — a drop of 17 percentage points since March, when researchers from Denison and Eastern Illinois universities first asked the question.
In June, San Antonio’s Cornerstone Church — a nondenominational, evangelical mega-church
with its own large school system — sued officials who ordered schools to close. Attorney General Ken Paxton quickly advised that religious schools weren’t bound by the mandate.
In July, the Calvary
Church in Universal City shut down after more than 50 staff members and congregants tested positive for COVID-19.
The area’s Catholic churches have been following the direction of Archbishop Gustavo García-siller.
In May, he reopened churches after they had been conducting only virtual services for about two months. They stayed open through the duration of the coronavirus spike in June and July.
The national resistance to shutting down is bipartisan. While the polling, conducted just before the presidential election and released last week, shows Republicans were far more likely to urge church defiance of local orders, Democrats also registered upticks over the past six months, researchers found.
Some of that simply may be because of “pandemic fatigue,” wrote Paul Djupe of Denison University and Ryan Burge of Eastern Illinois
University.
But they found another reason: the so-called prosperity gospel, a prominent strain of Christianity whose adherents believe God will reciprocate their demonstrations of faith with physical and financial health on Earth.
“The connection,” Burge and Djupe wrote, “is easy to see. If the church is the instrument of personal health, then shuttering the church is a direct threat to personal safety during a pandemic.”
The report, “Church Defiance to COVID-19 Restrictions is Growing,” comes as public health officials warn of overcrowded hospitals and an ongoing wave of cases and deaths that likely will worsen as cold weather and upcoming holidays push more people inside and closer together.
For months, health experts have warned against large religious gatherings because they often involve close personal contact or singing, during which those infected could spread the virus much farther than they would if they simply were talking
Meanwhile, some prominent Christian leaders continue to cast doubt on the severity of a virus that nowhas killed more than a quarter-million Americans.
In California, for example, John Macarthur, pastor of the massive Grace Community Church, for weeks has been engaged in a public — and now legal — war with local health officials over in-person worship restrictions.
In Texas, Christian leaders have mounted similar challenges since March, when Gov. Greg Abbott placed limitations on large gatherings.
The First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, the site of the deadly 2017 mass shooting, never has stopped holding inperson services. In recent livestreams of its services, congregants line the pews, many not wearing masks and exchanging hugs.
Some churches have reopened with restrictions on attendance, social distancing measures and other precautions that follow government guidance.
Since it reopened in June, St. Pius X Catholic Church on the North Side has implemented a series of precautionary measures to prevent the spread of COVID.
Pews are labeled with alternating green and blue stripes to separate parishioners. Industrialsized HEPA air purifiers were installed, and the ventilation system has been modified to circulate more outside air. The choir is kept at a distance from the pews.
“When we came up with our task force, we realized nothing is totally risk-free. We think we are mitigating the risk to the highest degree possible,” said Father Pat O’brien, the church’s pastor.
Parishioners are spaced about 6 feet apart. And they’re encouraged to wear masks, O’brien said. But he said about a third of them take their masks off during services.
“It’s a struggle,” O’brien said, sighing.
There are two Masses designated for at-risk parishioners, and masks are mandatory.
When the church switched to
livestreaming services at the start of the pandemic, a lot of parishioners were upset.
They were “really, really mad,” said Emilie Freymann, 20, the pastor’s assistant. “They said, ‘I can go to Walmart, but I can’t go to church?’”
“Nowthat we’re open, you see fragile old ladies who can’t go to the store, go to church. It’s really nice to see that.”
Experts largely have defended the government restrictions as constitutional, so long as they’re applied equally to religious and nonreligious activities and groups.
“Our freedoms are not absolute, and religious freedom is balanced against other interests — including, in this case, public health and safety,” said Benjamin Marcus, religious literacy specialist at the Freedom Forum’s Religious Freedom Center in Washington, D.C.
But as the virus continues to spread, others are preparing for what they think will be another round of litigation over limits on churches.
Jared Woodfill, a Houstonbased attorney, has represented multiple churches in legal challenges to local and state orders, including Cornerstone.
Woodfill said he thinks any future orders by Abbott will avoid strict limits on churches and that new research bolsters his position that religious leaders, not the government, should have the final say on what is or isn’t safe for their congregations.