It may have been the largest but the worship gathering at Cardiff State Beach last weekend that drew an estimated one thousand or more people, but it is not the only example of what’s happening at churches and other places of worship up and down the state.
When the statewide stay at home order was issued in mid-March, many churches moved to on-line and live streaming of their services. When things loosened up a bit in June, and churches could meet in small socially distanced groups of less than 100 or 25 percent of capacity, it was hoped that they were going to be able to start getting back to close to normal.
Now that larger worship services and church events have to be outdoors, many have done just that.But there are still the health and safety guidelines about face coverings and six feet separation.
So when all those people gathered together on the beach, almost shoulder to shoulder, it drew lots of attention from the County Public Health Officer who called the event an “egregious violation” of public health orders.
Those who organized the event in Cardiff clearly didn’t do it only to worship but as kind of protest over the public health order and to get their message across about what many believe is a violation of their constitutional right to freedom of religion.
No public official wants to fine churches. Especially at a time when more people, not less, are seeking peace and strength at church to help them with the worry and stress of going through what we are all going through.
For now, we can only hope and pray for an end to the pandemic sooner than later.
(Photo credit reporting partner 10News)