Local Officials Resurrect Hostilities on Easter
“Mississippi isn’t China,” Governor Tate Reeves (R) insisted. Someone might want to tell Greenville Mayor Errick Simmons (D) that, since his Christian crackdown is making national news.
“Mississippi isn’t China,” Governor Tate Reeves (R) insisted. Someone might want to tell Greenville Mayor Errick Simmons (D) that, since his Christian crackdown is making national news. In videos that exploded across the internet, Christians at a drive-in service were shocked to find policemen at their windows, handing out $500 tickets. The mayor, they were told, wanted to make an example of the church. But what he actually made was a classic case of religious intolerance.
“Everyone was in their cars with the windows up listening to Pastor Arthur Scott preach[ing] on the radio. What is harmful about people being in their cars listening to preaching with their windows up?” Charles Hamilton asked. “Christians, do you all see what is going on?” Despite the intimidation, Pastor Scott was undeterred. “I told them to get some more tickets ready,” because we will be preaching Sunday morning and Sunday night.“ The police officer told him he could be arrested if he held a drive-in service Easter Sunday. If that’s what it takes to keep preaching, he fired back, "I’ll be glad to go to jail.”
If Alliance Defending Freedom has anything to do with it, Pastor Scott — and any other churches following the government’s guidelines — won’t be going anywhere. “If [government] allows waiting in the car at Sonic, it should permit a drive-thru Easter service," tweeted Kristen Waggoner, ADF senior vice president and counsel for Trinity Baptist Church, about the city’s action. "Safety is critical. So is following the Constitution. First Amendment isn’t completely suspended nor does [government] have unlimited authority to target churches however they please. There are limits.”
Governor Reeves himself had been clear: “The government does not have the right to shut down places of worship. If you start taking people’s rights away, very rarely does the government ever give them back to them.” Unfortunately, rogue extremists seem to be taking advantage of the pandemic in a handful of localities — like Kentucky, where Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer (D) is actually setting up a hotline for people to report churches who meet in their cars. When First Liberty Institute protested, Fischer only dug in deeper. “It’s not really practical or safe to accommodate drive-up services taking place in our community. Think about this on Sunday morning: There would be hundreds of thousands of people driving around our community.”
While Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear (D) stood by the mayor’s tyrannical campaign, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) took him to task in a letter demanding he reverse course. “It raises the specter that the government is singling religious people out for disfavored treatment.” Certainly, the states should try to stop people from meeting in person and putting entire communities at risk. But, he pointed out, “During Easter and Passover, the government should not flatly prohibit religious gatherings that comply with CDC guidelines unless it has no other choice to stop COVID-19. I believe the government has means to stop the spread of COVID-19 short of a flat ban on gatherings of people in vehicles for religious purposes.”
Fortunately, in an emergency ruling Saturday, Judge Justin Walker — Donald Trump’s nominee to the D.C. Circuit Court — issued a temporary restraining order against Mayor Fischer, writing that he violated religious freedom by suggesting churches couldn’t meet in their cars. “The mayor’s decision is stunning. And it is, ‘beyond all reason,’ unconstitutional.”
On Friday, I raised the growing concern over religious intolerance with Vice President Mike Pence on “Washington Watch” and asked if the Department of Justice would weigh in. We didn’t have to wait long. On Saturday, DOJ’s Kerri Kupec warned local officials that Attorney General William Barr has his eye on them. “During this sacred week for many Americans, AG Barr is monitoring govt regulation of religious services. While social distancing policies are appropriate during this emergency, they must be applied evenhandedly & not single out religious orgs. Expect action from DOJ next week!” she wrote. And for many of these pastors, not a moment too soon!
For the latest on all of these cases, check out FRC’s new post, “Open the Doors? The Vast Majority of Churches Are Not Defying Government Orders.”
Originally published here.
Racetrack Church Sets the Pace for Easter Firsts
It wasn’t something people were used to seeing at Dominion Raceway. Instead of souped-up NASCARs, the lanes were replaced by hundreds of ordinary trucks and sedans, parked all across the asphalt. For once, the cameras weren’t trained on lap-leaders but a worship team, singing with families from their cars. When Pastor Ernest Custalow got up to preach, separated by pit row, the Virginia congregation honked appreciatively. Despite a challenging few weeks, Grace Church could take a victory lap. They managed to keep people safe and still celebrate the holiest day of the year — together.
Across the country, pastors embraced the new normal — delivering Easter messages from second-story roofs, flat-top trucks, even forklifts. For some, like Franklin Graham, it wasn’t what they were standing on, but where they were standing. In the middle of Central Park, the head of Samaritan’s Purse used the field hospital behind him to reassure people: “Jesus knows how to take the hopeless situations and turn them around… He can do it in your life too.”
Elsewhere, people packed into drive-in movie theaters or anywhere with big enough lots to accommodate them. Albuquerque’s Nat Heitzig was blown away by the attendance. “I think this shows that people still want to be together, even if it’s not person to person. Being in their car is enough for them, they just want the ability to congregate, to be together, to worship Jesus.”
On military bases like Camp Zama in Japan, chaplains got together and decided to do “some remarkable and creative things.” Things might have unfolded a little differently than past years, Lt. Colonel Donald Ehrke agreed, “but the community has really responded well to it.” Soldiers had the chance to take drive-in communion or pull over for a blessing, which was unconventional — he admitted — but it worked. “They stayed together with one another inside their cars but [were] still together as a community. People felt like they had an opportunity to worship together as a group… there was a sense of belonging and togetherness that we so long for,” he explained. “It’s just people coming up with good ideas and implementing those good ideas and taking advantage of what there is still available for us to do, even as we are practicing social distancing.”
Once the church service was over, the real service began. In places like New Jersey, congregations used the holiday to bless other families. Liquid Church worked with a group called Convoy of Hope to deliver the world’s biggest Easter basket to locals in need — more than 26,000 pounds of supplies like diapers, wipes, toilet paper, hygiene kits, bottled water, bleach, paper towels and food. “As people who love Christ,” one of the church staffers said, “it’s our joy to serve our neighbors across New Jersey in any way we can during this crisis… While our weekly new normal is virtual community, we are also committed to loving and caring for the various needs of our church and neighbors during this time.”
Other congregations had unique ways of getting the good news out — like the dozens of cars who lined up in Chesapeake, Virginia to spell “He Is Risen” with their vehicles. In West Virginia, churches led a parade of traffic through the Beckley streets to mark the day, some passengers even sticking their heads out of the sunroof to send well-wishes. They were joyful reminders that lives can be shaken and changed, but the hope offered by Jesus is as real in the midst of this crisis as it was the first day of His empty tomb.
In my community, just outside of Baton Rouge, hundreds gathered in their cars for a sunrise service hosted by the local Christian radio station, SoundRadio, the Central Area Pastors Association and Family Research Council. I was privileged to lead the service from an elevated trailer in the local high school football stadium parking lot. As the pastors prayed, read scripture and as the praise team led in worship the horns replaced the verbal amens and emergency flashers took the place of raised hands. It may have been untraditional, but it was still a blessing for all who participated.
For more on Easter in the age of COVID-19, check out my new op-ed in the Washington Examiner. Also, don’t miss Peter Sprigg’s column, “God in the Midst of Coronavirus Pandemic.”
Originally published here.
The Coronavirus ‘Essentials’
“It’s not supposed to be like this,” Leah Klug thought, tugging on her face mask. “Her family is supposed to be here.” But, in the Seattle hospital where she ministered — like so many others around the world — that was no longer an option. She dabbed oil by the patient’s head and read a verse from the book of John. “We are walking,” a fellow chaplain said somberly, “in the valley of the shadow of death.” They do it with families, fears, and fragilities of their own — but they do it, in many cases, because they are the only ones who can.
The pastors, priests, and rabbis fanned out across hospital floors in America don’t have easy jobs. “There’s no playbook for this," Leah said. "It’s just showing genuine care.” Thanks to the Trump administration, that care may now become standard practice in some of the bleakest, loneliest ICU rooms on earth. Just knowing a minister is outside their door can be comforting, a Wisconsin medical staffer explained. FaceTime and Skype and other programs are helpful, she agreed, but nothing can replace having a person nearby. “There’s something about being proximate that can be really meaningful for the patient and for us.”
A lot of the credit for that in-person ministry belongs to Vice President Mike Pence and acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, who listened to our suggestion that clergy be listed as “essential personnel” in the official government guidance. A couple of weeks ago, DHS’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, created the comprehensive list of critical infrastructure workers guidance. As he explained to me on Friday’s “Washington Watch,” it’s a list of people in our sectors who “need to go to work every day, need to keep the economy running, keep the supply chain full. And as governors put in place shelter-in-place procedures, we need to make sure that certain individuals can still come and go and do their job, so that the lights turn on, the water keeps running, there’s gas in the trucks to deliver [aid], and the like.”
In FRC’s opinion, the government should approach the battle against the virus like it would any other: with spiritual leaders on the front lines. So, we lobbied DHS and the White House to make that official in any upcoming guidance. “We went through a process [of] looking at the different sectors…” Secretary Wolf explained, “and [in late March], we released version 2.0 [of essential personnel]. We’re actually up to 3.0 [as of] this weekend. But in the 2.0 version, we did include clergy in there — recognizing that they provide a supportive and essential service, particularly in a number of hospitals, funeral homes, and the like as we deal with COVID and everything that that entails.”
It’s Wolf’s job to make sure that the right individuals — the right workforce — is on the ground, because, as he pointed out, “We know governors are paying attention. There’ve been upwards of 20 governors that have linked to this specific list when they put some of their shelter-in place procedures in place. And we’ve gotten pretty good feedback about the work that we’ve done with this list. And as you indicated, I’m happy that we did include clergy there again to provide that supportive and essential function.”
Of course, different states have different needs. “West Virginia may need miners to go to go to work every day. New York City needs the financial services folks going to work every day.” But there’s one group of people that everyone needs, and that’s clergy. In Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, one minister gets in every morning at 5:45 a.m. — like clockwork — just so she can be there when the ER and ICU workers are catching up on their caseloads. “These are people who are overcoming their own fear and exhaustion to do the job they are called to do. I am the safe place to express their sadness, their fear, their grief.” In times like these, she says, sometimes just “healing the healers” is the most important work they can do.
Originally published here.
This is a publication of the Family Research Council. Mr. Perkins is president of FRC.
