After President Trump threatened on Friday to “override” governors keeping tight restrictions on in-person church services, only Washington and New Jersey retained their all-out bans.
In both states, governors framed their decisions as a resistance to the president’s judgment during the coronavirus pandemic. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee issued a rebuke to Trump shortly after the president said during a press conference that it was “not right” for governors to list liquor stores and abortion clinics but not churches as “essential” businesses.
The governor’s office noted in a statement that, although Trump spoke strongly, he has no actual authority to make governors open churches.
“While we have read the president’s comments, there is no order, and we think he understands at this point that he can’t dictate what states can or cannot open,” a spokesman for Inslee said.
In New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy on Sunday offered no clear timeline on when he will lift his ban but told CNN he would like to see churches reopened “sooner than later.” Murphy added, however, that he feels Trump is moving too fast in the push to get people back in the pews.
“We want to make sure we do it right, responsibly, and that we don’t kill anyone by doing it too fast,” he said.
In both Washington and New Jersey, some pastors this weekend declared their defiance to both Inslee’s and Murphy’s orders by resuming in-person services anyway.
Of the 10 states that originally banned all in-person services, only five still had strictures in place when Trump called churches “essential.” But shortly afterward, Minnesota, California, and Vermont lifted them, allowing congregations to meet for the first time since March.
These capitulations came after a monthslong struggle between governments and a small but vocal group of religious leaders, which often involved lawsuits and appeals to the First Amendment’s free exercise clause.
In California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom allowed churches to reopen Monday, the fight was particularly acrimonious. More than 3,000 churches announced in mid-May that they were planning to reopen with or without Newsom’s go-ahead at the end of the month. Danny Carroll, one of the pastors leading the coalition, said that many felt the governor “hasn’t been responsive to our needs at all.”
The Justice Department sent a letter to Newsom last week urging him to reinstate the rights of churches because “there is no pandemic exception to the U.S. Constitution and its Bill of Rights.”
Under the guidelines issued Monday by California’s Department of Health, churches may open if they abide by social distancing requirements. The state also asked that worship services be shortened to reduce the risk of a spread.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Saturday made a similar decree after Catholic and Missouri Synod Lutheran churches announced their defiance to his all-out ban on in-person services. Under Walz’s new guidelines, churches are allowed to operate at a 25% capacity as long as they follow public health guidelines. These new rules allow for in-person worship of up to 250 people, a number with which Walz said during a press conference he is not entirely comfortable.
“To be candid, the 250 number terrifies me,” Walz said. “But the faith community leaders have been working on this for weeks and have been incredibly thoughtful.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released national guidelines for the reopening of churches after Trump’s combative statements.
“The governors need to do the right thing and allow these very important essential places of faith to open right now. For this weekend. If they don’t do it, I will override the governors,” Trump said during his brief appearance.
Speaking after Trump at the conference, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany appeared to walk back Trump’s statements, saying that he could only “strongly encourage every governor to allow their churches to reopen.”
