Ventura, California
AP
A California church held indoor worship services Sunday morning despite a judge’s temporary restraining order barring the church from doing so.
Pastor Rob McCoy led morning services in defiance of coronavirus health orders at Godspeak Calvary Chapel in Ventura County’s Newbury Park. McCoy had vowed Friday to continue in-person services even though the judge’s order cited “an immediate threat to public health and safety due to the 2019 novel coronavirus.”
In this Sunday, 5th April, 2020, file photo, worshippers line up to take communion on Palm Sunday outside of Godspeak Calvary Chapel in Newbury Park, California. The pastor of a California church has vowed to continue holding indoor worship in defiance of coronavirus health orders after a judge issued a temporary restraining order barring the church from doing so. Ventura County Superior Court Judge Matthew Guasco cited “an immediate threat to public health and safety due to the 2019 novel coronavirus” in issuing the temporary restraining order. The order will be in place until another hearing is held on 21st August. PICTURE: AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez/File photo.
The services came Sunday as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the US hit five million, by far the highest of any country.
Livestreams of the morning’s services showed a mask-less McCoy and a musician standing before at least two dozen worshippers – most of whom were also not wearing masks. It was not clear from the livestream if they were standing six feet (1.8 metres) apart, though the church’s website said that if a worshipper wanted to be socially distant, he or she should listen to the service from a car.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen today,” McCoy told the worshipers as he opened the first service. “My desire is that we lift up the name of Christ.”
The congregations during both services sang to McCoy for his birthday Monday, even though state health officials say singing increases the likelihood for transmission of the virus.
“Lord, we’re not here to endanger our community,” McCoy prayed during the first service. “We’re here because the church is essential.”
McCoy repeatedly mentioned the judge’s order and the county’s lawsuit against the church that prompted it throughout the services. He acknowledged that he could face a citation or more for defying the court.
“Whatever they’re going to do, I don’t want to mess with God’s justice,” he said during the first service.
McCoy became more outspoken against the order and county officials during the second service.
“We said ‘no’ to the restraining order, we’re open,” he said to applause.
ABC 7 reported that a group of protesters gathered outside the church Sunday morning. A small altercation broke out when a man apparently tried to take a sign away from a woman, the TV station reported. Church security told ABC the man was not a member of the congregation. No one was hurt during the altercation.
Ventura County Superior Court Judge Matthew Guasco’s order banning the church’s in-person services will be in place until another hearing is held on 21st August. It did not appear to be enforced during Sunday’s 9am or 11am services.
Another service was planned for later Sunday.
Godspeak Calvary Chapel is one of a handful of churches in the state that have wound up in court over state or local health orders restricting services. Judges have consistently ruled against the churches on grounds of public safety.
Earlier this year, the US Supreme Court upheld state COVID-19 restrictions on religious gatherings in a suit filed by South Bay United Pentecostal Church in Chula Vista.
Ventura County and its health officer sued Godspeak Calvary Chapel last week after McCoy repeatedly defied health orders designed to limit the spread of COVID-19.
Services for as many as 200 worshippers offered “singing, hugging, no masks,” in McCoy’s words.
“On a scale of one to 10 of the most immediate irreparable harm possible, this is a 10,” Guasco said at the hearing. “It doesn’t get much more immediate or irreparable than the threat that a lot of people are going to spread a contagious and deadly disease.”
McCoy has argued that the risk of spreading COVID-19 from its services is small and there hasn’t been a confirmed case among parishioners. Lawyers for the church also have argued that the health orders are over-reach that are trumped by the constitutional right to freedom of expression and worship.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some – especially older adults and people with existing health problems – it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.
On Friday, the most recently available data, Ventura County reported 111 new confirmed virus cases, including some dating back to tests done on 31st July. There have now been more than 8,000 confirmed cases and 89 deaths in the county, which has a population of about 850,000 people.
The number of infections is thought to be far higher because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected with the virus without feeling sick.
