Months into facing the novel coronavirus pandemic, many religious leaders and organizations in the United States have moved to virtual services, advised their parishioners to wear masks, and followed state and city guidelines in general. Some churches, however, have taken to defying state orders. For example, while megachurch Grace Community Church, located in Los Angeles, California, did indeed close in mid-March to adhere to COVID-19 restrictions, since reopening for in-person services in late July thousands of people have come to services, as reported by CNN. How many thousands? According to Pastor John MacArthur, six or seven thousand.
Mind you, that county is reporting more than 1,000 new coronavirus cases each day, and the nation as a whole continues to face the pandemic without consistent support, guidance, or strategy. Making matters even more concerning, as a Facebook live stream from service this past Sunday suggests, few masks were visible, and the church was seemingly packed with people.
In Los Angeles County, houses of worship can have in-person, indoor meetings according to a state order from the end of July; however, these indoor gatherings must be limited to either 25% of the building’s capacity or up to 100 people—the lower number wins out. As MacArthur told CNN, however, people have gradually returned to service since late July when restrictions eased, and since then, “kept coming until there were six or seven thousand." He stressed that people “came back on their own volition because this is the most essential thing in their life.
“We don't orchestrate this. This is a church,” MacArthur told CNN’s Brianna Keilar. “We don't ask people to make a reservation to come to church.” He added that they put up a tent area in a parking lot as well as a screen on a patio divider, but ultimately they did open the doors and let people come inside as the sections outside were becoming packed.
“We opened the doors because that's what we are, we're a church,” he stated. “And we’re going to trust those people to make adult decisions about the reality of their physical and spiritual health and how that balance works for each one of them.” He added: “Nobody’s forcing anything.” The pastor also suggested that life is being “restricted” in a way that is “burdensome.”
As Daily Kos has covered, a number of churches have defied orders and continued holding in-person services amid the pandemic. One pastor in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana area, for example, actually was arrested after continuing to violate the governor’s order, which included a limit on how many people could gather inside.
Also in California, Destiny Christian Church briefly got national media attention for holding in-person services in spite of the governor’s ban; interestingly, this same church went viral a second time as The Sacramento Bee reported that the church received a federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan of between $350,000 and $1 million in April. (Disclosure: Kos Media received a Paycheck Protection Program loan.)
As Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine put it, one churchgoer can inadvertently spread the virus “like wildfire.” In that case, one man who had COVID-19 attended a church service in mid-June. Thanks to contact tracing, we know that 53 other people who attended that service became sick, and a total of 91 people became sick. We also know that singing in groups (as is often part of religious meetings) can be particularly worrisome when it comes to spreading the virus.
