Pastors, Justice push state to let churches open
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office remained silent Wednesday over a growing legal spat with the Trump administration and religious leaders about the state’s decision to delay allowing church services to begin once again.
California counties with the green light to reopen their economies faster than the rest of the state have allowed people to resume gathering in restaurants, shopping malls or schools, with distancing rules.
But religious services remain forbidden statewide. That juxtaposition led the Justice Department on Tuesday to warn Newsom that the state must ease restrictions on religious wor
ship more quickly.
The department wrote that the state’s reopening plan must provide for “equal treatment of persons and activities of a secular and religious nature.”
Newsom’s office acknowledged it received the letter but declined to respond further on Wednesday; Attorney General Xavier Becerra also declined to comment.
Newsom said Monday that the state could be weeks away from allowing churches to hold inperson services, though he said they can resume offering counseling services and clergy can use their offices.
“But as it relates to congregants coming back into the pews, we are a few weeks away,” he said. “We are working overtime with leaders in the community to come up with those guidelines.”
Some Republican political operatives and religious groups have objected to California’s emergency stayathome order from the outset, arguing that the designation of church services as nonessential is discriminatory.
Federal courts have blocked a series of lawsuits seeking to immediately lift the ban of church services, citing the public health emergency.
But the debate has gotten more complicated as California starts to reopen its economy and people are allowed to sit in restaurants for meals or walk through swap meets before filling church pews.
“The idea that you can trust citizens to go behave responsibly in Costco and you cannot trust the same citizens to go behave responsibly in church has no basis in constitutional law or fact,” said Harmeet Dhillon, a San Francisco attorney and GOP activist suing Newsom over the rules.
While the state prevailed in early rulings, momentum to overturn the church ban is growing, she said. The fight is now before the U.S. Court of Appeals.
At its legal core, the debate is about whether California has an overriding public health interest in treating churches like other mass gathering places, such as concerts or liveaudience sporting events.
But opponents of Newsom’s order said the dispute is bigger than that. They said the state has treated churches like entertainment due to a fundamental disrespect for a right to worship that’s included in the Constitution.
“That is absolute contempt for religion,” Dhillon said.
A group of Christian pastors, known as Church United, has said they will defy Newsom and conduct services on May 31, the feast of the Pentecost. An attorney for the pastors said Wednesday that they expect thousands of congregations across the state to join, with or without Newsom’s permission.
“We believe you are attempting to act in the best interests of the state, but the restrictions have gone too far and for too long,” attorney Robert Tyler wrote in a letter to Newsom.
The Justice Department suggested churches can safely open by limiting their congregation to a fraction of their capacity to allow distancing. It argued that church services are essential to many.
“Religion and religious worship continue to be central to the lives of millions of Americans,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the department’s civil rights division, echoing an April 14 statement by Attorney General William Barr. “This is true now more than ever.”
The letter came a day after Newsom announced he is relaxing criteria for counties that want to reopen faster, if they have seen infections and hospitalization stabilize.
Under Newsom’s plan, religious and cultural ceremonies won’t be allowed to resume until the third stage of the state’s reopening plan, along with entertainment venues, fitness studios and hair and nail salons.
Some pastors, however, are taking a more moderate stance on the delay.
Terry Inman, pastor at Harbor Light Church in Fremont, said that while he objects to restaurants and retail stores opening before churches, his congregation has been focused on charitable work and virtual fellowship meetings on Zoom.
“Our people are being patient, and they understand the need for safety,” he said. “I believe that the love of Christ would call me to do things that are safe for my community.”