"Houses of worship essential. Open right now! I will override the governors. In America we need more prayer!"
- President Donald J. Trump.
As you may know, Advocates President, Robert Tyler wrote a Declaration of Essentiality declaring that churches are “essential” and over 1,500 pastors signed it, stating that they will appropriately re-open their churches no later than May 31 — Pentecost Sunday. The Declaration was sent with a demand letter to Governor Newsom on May 19, 2020. (Find both on our website at faith-freedom.com.) The impetus for the Declaration was on April 28, 2020 when Governor Newsom emphasized that Phase 3, when churches would be allowed to reopen, was “months not weeks away”.
Now, less than a month later, as of May 25, 2020, Californians can resume gathering together to worship. It is not a coincidence that on the Monday before Pentecost Sunday, we received the announcement from the governor’s office. We know that our declaration, along with our other legal efforts played a part in this victory! Thank you for providing your prayers and financial support in this effort!
We have been working tirelessly for our churches and for good reason. For all of this nation’s flaws, the United States has always been a beacon of freedom for those wishing to observe their faith through communal worship and holiday celebrations. If one wants to go to church — any kind of church — in America, one can simply pick a service and show up. Indeed, the right to assemble, including assembly with those of your religion, is so important that it comes first in our Bill of Rights.
Covid-19 has wrought heartache on thousands of families, no doubt. At press time, over 90,000 Americans had died of the coronavirus and we must never gloss over a single one in pursuit of any aim. But grieving for the lost while wisely protecting the most vulnerable still among our populations does not, at any stage, include relinquishing what our Constitution promises and our Bible instructs.
We, along with millions of other faith-driven Californians, know that meeting together with other believers is most definitely essential to a free and fulfilled spiritual life. It’s the entire reason the Pilgrims left Europe for a dangerous and unknown journey to America’s shores. Assembling freely to pursue the divine was worth the risk of death to them!
There are those who say we are being selfish, that it is not too much to ask that we trade church services for saved lives during this virus gone wild. We ask them to take a look at the bigger picture — and not just the picture of our opinion, but that of verifiable facts.
Because while certain groups of people are suffering and dying from Covid-19, other killers are preying on larger swaths of our population: addiction, domestic violence, child abuse, suicide and violent crime, for starters. And their numbers are just as — if not more — frightening than the daily coronavirus fatalities.
In Murrieta, for example, where one of our offices is located, violent crimes rose six-fold from February to March. Per the Los Angeles Times, suicide hotlines across the state have seen gargantuan jumps in calls (one organization went from 20 calls in February to more than 1800 in March!). Alcohol sales jumped 55 percent in one week across the nation. When people lack jobs, social bonds, food security, and so on, society breaks down. Children get abused. Women become punching bags. Weapons, substance abuse and suicide become ways out of misery.
Quite simply, shutdowns kill — but the Church can help.
While we are happy that places of worship can resume services, there is still more work ahead. The Governor’s guidance limits church occupancy to 25% or 100 people, whichever is less. This is not acceptable because it still discriminates against places of worship. Restaurants, for example, have no stated occupancy limitation but simply require that guests at tables be separated by six feet. Additionally, large stores continue operating without being limited in their occupancy from their normal levels. While, many churches will have no problem complying with the 100-person limit, some of our clients have churches that seat 2,500 people and more. They simply will not be able to comply with this arbitrary, unreasonable and unconstitutional limit.
Our Declaration of Essentiality was instrumental in the Orange County Board of Supervisors passing a resolution declaring that houses of worship are essential – they merely need to social distance equal to any other essential business. Orange County refused to impose the discriminatory 100-person limit and cited Advocates for Faith & Freedom in their resolution.
Our goal is to continue advocating for the religious rights of places of worship – that they, at the very least, receive equal treatment as restaurants, liquor stores, marijuana dispensaries, and abortion clinics. I invite you to join us in this movement to ensure America’s churches remain essential – even and especially when we are facing a crisis.
““The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority.” ”
With unwavering fortitude,
Nada Higuera, Esq
P.S. If you are able, will you consider donating to our legal ministry to help us cover the costs associated with advising, protecting and defending these California churches and their pastors who have committed, with or without the government’s permission, to get back to ministering in person to their church families?
