A handful of pastors will hold in-person services on Easter Sunday despite social and governmental pressure to move their church functions online.
In Baltimore, Alvin Gwynn Sr., pastor of the Friendship Baptist Church, said he plans to hold an in-person service as he has been doing since Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan issued an executive order limiting public gatherings to 10 people during the coronavirus pandemic. Gwynn told the Washington Examiner that members of his church will try to remain safe while coming together.
“It’s going to be a regular service,” he said. “But we’re going to follow [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] guidelines.”
Gwynn, 74, is among a minority of pastors who have made headlines over the past few weeks for continuing to hold services, even as some local governments have begun taking legal action against them. These pastors often defend their decisions by citing the First Amendment and, as Easter approaches, the sacredness of the day.
Last Sunday, Baltimore police broke up the service at Gwynn’s church as he was preaching. Gwynn challenged them and later told the Baltimore Sun that shutting down his service tramples on his “most fundamental rights,” guaranteed in the First Amendment.
“Can the state stop people from coming out of their homes to worship?” he said. “It’s a constitutional question. Congress can’t make laws governing worship or peaceful assembly. Our democracy wouldn’t be here if we didn’t have those rights.”
Gwynn’s continued defiance matches that of two evangelical pastors who have been arrested for holding services in defiance of stay-at-home orders. Both Rodney Howard-Browne, pastor of the River Church in Tampa Bay, Florida, and Tony Spell, pastor of the Life Tabernacle Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, called attempts to shut down their services religious persecution and a violation of the First Amendment.
The two, however, have taken divergent paths on how to proceed after their arrests. Although Howard-Browne initially opposed orders to move his services online, he has since complied, beginning on Palm Sunday.
Spell, on the other hand, has remained defiant, telling the Washington Examiner that he has no plans to close down for Easter or for any other future date. Furthermore, Spell said, it is important that his congregation meets on Easter, “the holiest day in Christianity.” Spell is not concerned about the possibility of spreading the coronavirus, he said.
“We have faith,” he said. “Our church and people have extreme faith and deep convictions. That extreme faith tells us that we need to assemble.”
Spell said that the decisions by some state governments to include churches among “nonessential” entities indicates a “double standard” that amounts to an attack on religion in favor of commercial interests. Most people have not resisted, Spell said, because they do not know their Constitution well.
“This isn’t about a virus,” he said. “If it was, the thousands of people in the big box stores would be at home. This is a persecution of people of faith.”
Other churches, too, have decided to remain open for Easter, though often in a way that embraces social distancing. Some have resorted to drive-in services. Others, such as Solid Rock Church near Dayton, Ohio, have remained open, while attempting to maintain social distancing and keep church facilities clean.
During Palm Sunday services at Solid Rock, Darrell Smith, one of the church leaders, led the congregation in a prayer that the coronavirus pandemic would end by Easter.
“Easter Sunday, Amen, this thing will all be done and over with, Amen — I know that God is going to put it out,” Smith said. “Man, they’re going say they won’t be able to explain it but we know, Amen, that God is in control.”
President Trump in late March said that he would like to see the country opened up by Easter, telling Fox News in an interview that he wanted churches “packed.” Trump soon walked back the comments, and many churches, including all Catholic and Episcopalian churches in the United States, clarified that they had no plans of opening their doors for Easter services.
Trump said on Saturday that he would watch Palm Sunday services online but bemoaned the necessity of the precaution.
“People are watching on computers and laptops,” he said. “It’s sad.”
Trump also said that he had been advised not to endorse the Easter Sunday gatherings out of caution “when we have been doing so well.”
Other officials in the federal government have recommended that people remain home for church, including Vice President Mike Pence and Sam Brownback, Trump’s special envoy for religious freedom, who emphasized that “religious groups should practice social distancing.”
