I wish states and local authorities had not ordered churches to stop meeting during the pandemic. That might surprise you. I’ve had a lot to say about those pastors who have foolishly (in my opinion) called their congregations together to meet in defiance of such orders. Actually, I wish all church leaders had used common sense to cancel services until it was safer to assemble again. Of course, that didn’t happen.
Some leaders—publicity-seekers, perhaps—called their congregations together, sometimes with tragic results.
For some days now, some pastors have been garnering headlines by claiming stay-home orders violate our Constitutional freedom and defy common sense. Now, hundreds of pastors in California have banded together to defy state and local orders and meet this Sunday; on the other side of the country, a Baptist pastor in Maryland was pictured tearing up a cease and desist order, declaring it “unfair…unjust…[and] unconstitutional.” Of course, all along pastors in so-called “fly over country” have been holding meetings—see stories from Ohio, Kentucky, and Louisiana, for example. Most have claimed any ban on church services is unconstitutional and inconsistent. Are they right?
I’m no constitutional scholar but I’ve read a lot about our First Amendment guarantee that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Although there have been myriad debates about those sixteen words, they basically mean the United States would have no official religion and citizens are free to believe in “twenty gods, or no god,” to paraphrase one Founder. The state prohibitions of church services during the pandemic seem to violate the “free-exercise” clause, and I’m sure some judges will find that true should church leaders sue their states. But other judges won’t.
First Amendment freedoms have never been absolute. The right to assemble has, at times, been limited by curfews; when these are universal (not targeted by age or race) and temporary (of limited duration) the courts have generally permitted them. Even our religious freedoms have parameters. Your religion may believe in human sacrifice, but you may not practice that belief (there are less extreme examples). Thus, temporary sanctions against meeting together during a pandemic do not necessarily violate the free-exercise clause, at least in the opinion of one who has never had a law course.
Another argument I’ve seen lately runs something like this: How is going to Wal-Mart or Home Depot any safer than going to church? Yet, people are allowed to go to these stores. One pastor suggested the rulings made a church service “the deadliest hour” of the week. Let’s think about it.
--I have seldom, if ever, spent an hour or more in Wal-Mart. If I see the parking lot is full, I’m likely to postpone the visit, buying broccoli another day. Then, too, I’ve never hung around after purchasing my widget at Home Depot to visit with other customers—socializing after the benediction seems to be part of the liturgy of most churches.
--I have never—ever—been hugged in Wal-Mart. As a pastor, I was widely known for not being a “hugger,” yet some members would always hug me. I once had a severe shoulder injury, so severe I saw a specialist. The next Sunday morning I informed the congregation wouldn’t be shaking hands (following my orthopedist’s orders) after the service. Almost everyone understood—almost everyone. Some insisted I shake their hands. I did to avoid offending them.
--I have never been in a Home Depot where all the people around me were singing loudly, expelling viruses and whatever well over six feet. Some churches plan to avoid singing, many won’t.
Comparing a visit to Wal-Mart and attending a church service just isn’t valid.
Some churches will resume meeting despite warnings from health officials. I hope they will do so only after leaders and members have carefully considered the risks. I hope they will not be persuaded to reopen based on false analogies, such as that comparing attending worship and a visit to Home Depot. I hope they will not be persuaded to do reopen based on bad theology, theology that says God will judge you if you skip church even during a pandemic (a Roman Catholic priest recently reminded our president, who had encouraged churches to reopen, that going to church doesn’t make one a good Christian). I hope they will not be coerced into reopening because a pastor knows it’s hard to drop a check into the offering plate if you’re not in church (I’m afraid my spiritual gift of cynicism may have prompted that statement).
If your church should reopen, I hope you will remember you have the privilege of weighing the benefits and risks of attending.
Again, I regret some governments felt compelled to close churches. I wish churches had led the way by saying, “We are going to temporarily deny ourselves the blessing of physical fellowship, for the good of one another.” That some churches have chosen to flout common sense, seems to have given all churches a bad name. But maybe I’m wrong. I hope so. Pastors can be wrong. Not all of them remember that. But I digress.
