Regathering in the COVID-19 Era

By Robin G Jordan

In deciding whether they should reopen their buildings and relaunch in-person services and gatherings, I strongly urge church leaders to look at what is happening not only in their community and county but also surrounding communities and counties and neighboring states. Even though the state may advice against unnecessary travel and ask those enter the state from another state to quarantine themselves for 14 days, people are ignoring this guidance. With the US population divided over precautionary measures like social distancing and face masks and the growing number of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths reported in all but two states, there is a genuine risk of widespread infection. The acting director of the Centers for Disease Control has warned that for every reported case, there is 10 unreported cases. The reported cases are the tip of a much larger iceberg.

In my county at least two new cases have been reported for three Monday in a row. When they occurred two Mondays in a row, the director of the county health department described them as a worrisome “little spike.” For each of these reported cases there are 10 more unreported cases in the county. Each of these cases is capable of spreading the virus. One or more of these cases may have traveled to another county or state and is spreading the virus there.

Narrowly focusing on the number of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in the community or the county will not give church leaders an accurate picture of the level of risk in their locality. They need to look at a much larger area.

In my state the reopening has moved into the phase in which gatherings of up to 50 people may held and bars may reopen. At the same time there has been an uptick in cases, hospitalizations, and deaths state-wide. The governor has urged residents of the state and visitors to the state to wear face masks and to observe social distancing guidelines. The state’s commissioner of agriculture, a Republican, is suing the governor, a Democrat, claiming that in implementing restrictions on business, the governor did not follow state administrative regulations and hold public hearings at the state and local level, and therefore the restrictions are unconstitutional. He ostensibly filed the suit on the behalf of a small business on the grounds that the 50-person limit on gatherings was causing it to lose income. The business in question serves as a venue for weddings and other large gatherings.

Anyone who is familiar with the politics of the state, however, knows that the commissioner of agriculture is eyeing a run for the office of governor in the near future and is trying to garner votes. His motivations are political. He is hoping to win the backing of the state’s small businesses.

If the courts do declare the restrictions to be unconstitutional, the state is likely to experience a surge of new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as did Arizona where the governor initially refused to impose restrictions on businesses. Holding public hearings on a new set of restrictions would not only politicize the process but delay the implementation of any restrictions that were eventually agreed upon, leaving the virus to go unchecked in the state.

One might suspect the state’s agriculture commissioner of discounting the seriousness of the pandemic or having a callous disregard for human life and suffering and putting the interests of the business community first. Whatever one may think of his motives, the outcome of the suit will affect not only businesses but also churches. It may result in some church leaders being even less cautious than they already are and exposing their churches and communities to further infection.

In deciding whether they should reopen their buildings and relaunch in-person services and gatherings, church leaders need to keep an eye on similar developments in their states and counties. It is important to remember that a relaxation of state and local restrictions is not a license to be careless and ignore the need for precautionary measures. While the state or county may permit gatherings of up to a 100 people, it may be still safer for a church to limits the size of its in-person services and gatherings to smaller numbers of people. Based upon what has happened across the United States, church leaders cannot always rely on the decisions of the state and local authorities. These decisions may be motivated by politics and economics and not public health concerns.

Right now the COVID-19 pandemic is raging unchecked in most of the United States despite the statements from the White House that the pandemic is under control and the worst is past. These statements, if anything, are wishful thinking. Across the country the virus is demonstrating that these statements are without substance.

We are far from out of the woods. We have just started down the path through the woods. We have a long way to go before we reach the other side. The path we are on has trail markers. If we keep to the path that they mark, we will reach the other side. But if we ignore the trail markers, we are likely to end up following a rabbit track to nowhere.

What are the trail markers? Quarantine. Self-isolation. Social distancing. Face masks. Limits on the size of gatherings. Good ventilation. Avoidance of unnecessary trips. Hand washing. Avoidance of unnecessary physical contact. The list goes on. All of these precautionary measures when used together have proven their effectiveness in checking past epidemics. If we follow the trail markers, we will eventually get out of the woods.