When California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that large sections of California would have to shut down businesses and churches because of a coronavirus resurgence, many religious leaders refused to comply with the order.
The Monday order, which allows churches to continue socially distant services outside, effectively sends some of the most densely populated counties back into a full-on lockdown for an indefinite period of time. Newsom in a Monday press conference said that he expects the virus to keep spreading unless the state remains locked down because “COVID-19 is not going away anytime soon until there is a vaccine or an effective therapy.”
But even with the state’s caution, some church leaders say that shutting down again is not an option. San Francisco and Western America Russian Orthodox Archbishop Kyrill, in an open letter to Newsom, said that the state’s strictures on religious services, especially on singing, are “open discrimination,” reminiscent of the “the era of godless persecutions in the U.S.S.R.”
Kyrill noted that while the Orthodox Church had complied with the state’s previous shutdown, forcing members to participate in Lent and Easter services online only, he was upset to see the state’s permissiveness to protesters demanding racial justice.
“We now observe a contradiction in that mass protests take place everywhere, at which absolutely all precautions are violated with impunity,” he wrote, adding that the church will “defend the rights” of its members to continue to worship.
Singing has been banned in California churches since Newsom allowed them to reopen in late May following backlash from President Trump, who said he would “override” any governor who did not allow in-person worship to resume.
Don Komush, a pastor at Upper Room, a church near Fresno, said that Newsom’s prohibitions on church services are “out of hand” and that Christians are the people whose lives are affected the most by his decision to prolong the shutdown.
Komush is organizing a protest against Newsom in Fresno that he expects thousands of people to attend. It was originally intended only to address the singing ban, but after Newsom’s orders on Monday, Komush expanded its scope to include general religious liberty issues.
“Enough is enough,” he said. “We believe as Christians that we are being attacked. We can pray, and that’s a great thing, but at some point, you have got to take action too.”
The protest will begin at one church that the state cracked down on for holding illicit services and will end at another fined for the same reason, Komush said, adding that he hopes the march will make clear that California Christians are not afraid to practice civil disobedience.
Jim Franklin, a pastor at Cornerstone Church in Fresno, told the local ABC affiliate that Newsom’s orders make no sense since many churches in California cannot safely hold services in weather that is often hotter than 100 degrees.
“To move services outdoors in 100-plus degree weather, you are putting restrictions on churches that should not be placed upon them,” he said.
Newsom faced widespread backlash in late May when he said that his all-out ban on in-person church services could last indefinitely. More than 3,000 churches opposed him and threatened to reopen without his consent if he did not loosen up his restrictions. Newsom relented.
Danny Carroll, the pastor leading the coalition, told the Washington Examiner at the time that he hoped that Newsom would not force closure on churches again.
“Hopefully, he’s learning some lessons this time,” he said. “I always try to believe the best in people, which, I know, sounds a bit naive. But hopefully, it’s not.”
