Should the Government Cancel Church?

I have thought a lot about this question in recent weeks. Being a pastor, it has been a question I have been forced to resolve. I have grown more and more confident in the answer to this question.

I was helped along in this journey by this brief from Liberty Counsel. It was very helpful, and to just summarize…

A church organization is constitutionally protected from infringement of their right to worship as they see fit. This includes frequency of worship. They cannot be restricted to a greater degree than a regular business would be in order to protect the health of the community. That would be discrimination upon a religious basis.

So if a business in the community is allowed to provide their services and products, all be it within social distancing requirements, then a church must also be afforded the same freedom.

Basically, the government cannot deem a religious institution as “unessential” and therefore subject to greater restrictions than grocery stores or Walmart. (Does Walmart actually qualify as a a grocery store? Interesting question.) That is an infringement upon the free exercise of religion. Any policy of the State that causes such action is clearly prohibited by the United States Constitution.

So I am on pretty firm ground when I say no, the government cannot cancel worship services…unless they also close Walmart and Target.

Actually if things get so bad that we have to close down Walmart and Target (until now deemed “essential”) then we are actually in greater need of worship and the support of fellow Believers than ever. (Can we categorize Churches as “Super-Essential” and make them shut-down proof?)

Here are a few other links I found informative on the subject:

ADF on Covid-19

Church services and Covid-19

And just throwing this out there, but according to Scripture the Church is the body of Christ, it’s not an event we attend. The Church comes together to worship and should make a regular practice of that, but you cannot stop the Church being the Church by just canceling our worship services. That’s like telling Jesus to stop breathing.

You ain’t gonna make that happen.