Although Governor John Bel Edwards has announced the first steps of a gradual re-opening of the state, one of the city’s senior pastors encourages church leaders to use caution before resuming church services too quickly.
Roosevelt Wright, Jr., pastor of the New Tabernacle Baptist Church in Monroe, says while the governor has given churches and other organizations a “yellow light” to re-open, congregations should use discretion.
The governor announced this week in a conference call with pastor’s across the state that church congregations can resume indoor worhips as long as the crowd size does not exceed 25% of the church facility’s State Fire Marshal Capacity with safe distancing guidelines in place. The same applies to funerals, weddings, and other indoor activities. Churches are cleared to resume outside meetings even with large crowds using social distancing guidelines.
Wright, who has pastored New Tabernacle for 44 years, says “If members have to wear gloves, wear face masks, sit six feet apart and everything they touch must be sanitized, it generally means that it is not safe, especially for older people and those with underlying conditions.” said Wright.
Wright said churches should consider that the majority of most local congregations have members who are either elderly or have underlying conditions of high blood pressure, asthma, diabetes, or obesity, which will make them targets of the COVID virus.
“This time next year the lawyers will be taking churches to court if we create unsafe worship environments that result in a COVID death,” Wright said.
Wright said churches that plan to open should ask the following persons not to attend worships until it is safe:
–Persons over 60 years of age.
–Persons with any underlying health conditions such as Asthma, Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, or obesity.
–Persons who have been in close proximity to COVID positive individuals but have not been tested themselves.
–All children, because they may be carriers of COVID although they show no symptoms.
He said churches that choose to re-open early should take the following steps:
–Ensure that church facilities are disinfected before and after worships.
–Arrange seating so that only persons who live in the same house will sit on the same pew and no one sits on the pew behind them or in front of them.
–Offering plates should not be passed from one person to another.
–Ushers must be prepared to immediately disinfect facilities touched by unprotected persons even in restrooms.
–Microphones, speakers podiums, pulpits, musical instruments, electronic equipment, and other equipment used or touch by unprotected persons must be desanitized before each use even during worships.
–Choir or praise team singers should be six feet apart, front, back, and side.
–Funerals should follow the same rules.
–Foods for funeral services and other events should be professionally sealed and prepared and not pot luck.
–Classes or meetings in small rooms should be avoided.
“The governor says churches can open, but what he didn’t say is that if churches are not careful this time next year, lawyers will be filing lawsuits for families of COVID victims against church insurance companies because we created unsafe venues with the full knowledge that the life and health of our members were at risk,” Wright said.
