Church Reopening

“A California judge has granted a temporary restraining order against Godspeak Calvary Chapel and its Pastor Rob McCoy for holding in-person services in violation of COVID-19 health orders….McCoy announced in a video message Friday that he will continue to hold indoor services.

“Harvest met in a white tent half the size of a football field to comply with state orders restricting indoor worship. After the first week of meeting under the tent, pastor Greg Laurie said, ‘Our church loved it,’ so Harvest added a second morning service.” - C.Today

“So my, my message—if I was talking to your congregants—would be number one, we can turn this thing around in three to four weeks, by doing three simple things…” - CToday

“… the indoor services were guided by social distancing protocols. The church, which is located in a rural community south of Huntsville and usually runs between 80 and 100 in services, met for a while during the pandemic with drive-in services. In June, Warrior Creek Baptist was back to some normal gatherings.

“No matter where your church falls along this continuum, it’s important to continually seek out up-to-date data and research and to humbly integrate this information into an ongoing decision-making process.” - F&T

“While its fashionable among the media to cite outliers who spurn the guidelines for their state, more churches by far are following the model of Calvary Chapel in both caring for their community and honoring those in authority.” - CToday

“A LifeWay Research study found more than 1 in 10 Protestant pastors say someone on church staff has sexually harassed a congregation member at some point in the church’s life.” - F&T

“More than a week after at least 51 members of Calvary Chapel of San Antonio in Texas got infected with COVID-19 since the congregation started meeting in person, the church’s pastor says he takes full responsibility. … adding, ‘We kept all of the rules to the letter of the law.’” - CPost

“In March, April and May, our church staff braced for a wave of COVID-19 cases to sweep through our church family. It never happened…. Two weeks ago, that all changed.

“Grace City Church, a fast-growing Hillsong Family church in Lakeland, Florida… announced that it would ask members to wear masks after the church’s husband and wife team of lead pastors revealed they had been infected with the new coronavirus.” - CPost