If California politicians can trust shoppers to social distance while packed into big box stores, then churches should be trusted to do the same. That’s what Senator Brian Jones (R-Escondido) argued as he introduced the Religion is Essential Act (SB 397) yesterday, a bill to require the state and local…
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Last Friday, the US Supreme Court handed churches and synagogues in New York a stunning victory over their governor’s discriminatory COVID-19 restrictions on indoor services. The 5-4 majority declared “even in a pandemic, the Constitution cannot be put away and forgotten.” Despite the victory, it was unclear how the New…
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This afternoon Governor Newsom decided to change his own COVID-19 rules and put 94% of California’s population under his most harsh virus restrictions starting tomorrow. This means restaurants, gyms, movie theaters, and churches can no longer meet indoors. As a result of the emergency orders, 41 of California’s 58 counties…
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Several California based Christian legal organizations say Governor Newsom’s new ban on church singing isn’t enforceable. The new “guideline” document released July 1, says social distancing isn’t going to protect congregants from COVID-19 in church services if they still sing or chant. “Places of worship must therefore, discontinue singing and…
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For weeks churches, Republican legislators, President Trump, the US Department of Justice, and religious liberty law firms, confronted Governor Newsom over his bans on in-person church services calling them discriminatory and unconstitutional. Last Monday, a week after Trump demanded governors let churches meet, and a week before 1200 California churches…
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At a White House press conference this morning, President Donald Trump officially designated churches as “essential places that provide essential services.” Trump’s remarks today came just days after the U.S. Department of Justice sent a letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom rebuking him for his discriminatory policies toward the state’s…
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Twenty-five California state legislators have joined hundreds of pastors who are calling on Governor Gavin Newsom to let churches hold in-person services. These Republican Senators and Assembly members sent the governor a letter last week asking him to allow houses of worship to reopen as part of California’s Stage 2,…
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Last week, California Governor Gavin Newsom revealed additional details regarding his four-phase plan to reopen the state. While daycare centers and schools could start opening up very soon as part of Phase Two, in-person church services were categorized with personal care businesses like gyms and salons, which are months away…
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Giving birth to newborn babies can be a stressful time for the entire family, but the responsibility is even greater in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. People around the world have been taking and should continue to implement addition safety precautions for themselves and their families, and those they…
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It has now been a month since many churches in California and the rest of the country eliminated in-person meetings and services at the direction of state and local government officials to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Christians were baffled as recommendations by governors and health officials to…
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