The State of Emergency in Virginia has created some confusion for churches concerning the ability to gather or meet. This confusion was magnified with the implementation of Executive Order 53. Recently, the Virginia Commonwealth’s Attorneys’ Services Council provided guidance to Virginia law enforcement agencies concerning the implications of EO-53. My goal is to arm church leaders with the best advice possible, from a law enforcement perspective, to allow them to make the most informed decisions as to continue or discontinue services and meetings, and for how long.
Concerning Executive Order, 53 (EO-53), churches want to know how this impacts their abilities to gather and worship. For religious institutions, the most impactful component of EO-53 is the prohibition on, “Gathering of ten or more individuals.”
As a reminder, the EO-53 order went into effect at 11:59 p.m., on Tuesday, March 24, 2020, and remains in effect until 11:59 p.m., Thursday, April 23, 2020.
Under EO-53, the following acts would constitute a Class 1 misdemeanor:
1. Public or private in-person gatherings of 10 or more individuals.
2. Failure to close dining or congregation areas in restaurants, dining establishments, food courts, breweries, microbreweries, distilleries, wineries, tasting rooms, and farmers’ markets.
3. Failure to close all public access to recreational and entertainment businesses.
4. Failure of any “brick and mortar” retail business, not deemed essential, to limit all in-person shopping to no more than 10 patrons per establishment.
5. Failure of any “brick and mortar” retail business, not deemed essential, to close if it cannot adhere to the 10-patron limit with proper social distancing requirements.
Until the expiration of EO-53, all public and private in-person gatherings of 10 or more individuals are prohibited. EO-53 does not define the term “gathering.” However, Webster’s dictionary defines “Gathering” as an “assembly” or “meeting.” The order is not limited to public places; by its terms, it would apply to an assembly or meeting of persons inside private homes.
Concerning churches, the order does not specifically mention churches. The FAQ issued with EO-53 explicitly states that “Places of worship that conduct in-person services must limit gatherings to 10 people, to comply with the statewide 10-person ban.”
Church leaders are making tough decisions, and in many ways, they are conflicted. In a sense, the conflict churches are facing is as old as the Church. In Acts 5 government officials tried to prevent the apostles from spreading the gospel. In verse 29, “…Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.” Many are using this passage as a way to ignore government regulation. However, Peter is a major proponent of obedience to civil authorities (government) in 1 Peter 2:13-14 we find the instruction to, “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.”
In the first century, the primary mode of worship was in temples and private homes.
In certain portions of the world today, people gather privately, and secretly, because the government will not allow them to worship.
To be clear, EO-53 is not an all or nothing directive. Many congregations have moved to online forms of worship. Others are using a combination of online and in-person services that consist of ten (10) people or less. Others are having multiple worship services of ten (10) people or less and cleaning in between service times. One congregation moved their sound system to the parking lot to allow members to sit in their cars and still participate in worship.
No matter our religion, we are Americans. We are experts in invention and innovation. During this time in history, use the talents and imagination of your members to accommodate worship while still complying with EO-53.
If we can assist your congregation with information concerning EO-53, please feel free to contact us at 276-628-3111.
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