Nation

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves on Tuesday issued guidelines for churches and other places of worship to reopen for in-person services during the coronavirus pandemic, with an emphasis on keeping spaces clean and maintaining distance between people.

The head of the federal Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division told Gov. Gavin Newsom May 19 that his plan to reopen California discriminates against churches. Eric S. Dreiband said Newsom should allow some in-person worship under the current second phase of his four-part reopening plan.

“Just because congregations may return to their buildings does not mean they should," the Massachusetts Council of Churches said in a written statement.

The Oregon Supreme Court halted a rural judge’s order which had tossed out statewide coronavirus restrictions imposed by Gov. Kate Brown in a case brought by churches arguing the Democrat exceeded her authority.

As restrictions on mass gatherings across the country are relaxed to allow in-person worship services, a couple churches that already reopened have again suspended in-person services after new coronavirus outbreaks in their congregations.

Three pastors spoke to a crowd of about 300 people outside the New Hampshire State House in Concord, standing a few feet away from signs spelling out the prohibition on gatherings of 10 people or more. The event featured prayers, songs, and speeches from organizers of the ReOpenNH movement.

A federal judge in North Carolina on Saturday sided with conservative Christian leaders (including two Baptist churches) and blocked the enforcement of restrictions that Gov. Roy Cooper ordered affecting indoor religious services during the coronavirus pandemic. 

Disease trackers are calling a choir practice in Washington state a superspreader event that illustrates how easily the coronavirus can pass from person to person. The act of singing itself may have spread the virus in the air and onto surfaces, according to a report from Skagit County Public Health published Tuesday (May 12).

Conservative Christian leaders sued North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper on Thursday (May 14), asking a court to throw out his restrictions on indoor religious services in the state during the COVID-19 pandemic. They argued the limits, initiated by Cooper with health in mind, violate their rights to worship freely.

A federal judge on Wednesday rejected a challenge to Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s authority to impose stay-at-home orders on churches in the battle against the coronavirus. A Baptist church was among those suing.