We need to be in prayer for our religious freedoms. Last week, the Chicago Department of Health has issued a letter to a Romanian Pentecostal church stating that, if they were to open their doors, they would be considered a "public nuisance" and may be subject to "summary abatement." That's a fancy legal way to say that the government would have the right to forcibly close and even destroy the church if they deemed it necessary.
They have since retracted this statement and the governor has amended the requirements for churches in Illinois. Even still, I believe we are entering uncharted waters on the separation of church and state during this COVID-19 pandemic. We have a responsibility as a church to do the right thing, including closing the doors, if that is what it takes to keep our members and communities safe. But the government does not have the constitutional authority to forcibly require the church to do so. In fact, the First Amendment states that the government "shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The Constitution does not have a pause button.
If the government can cross this line in the name of COVID-19, what is to stop them from telling us what we can preach or how we can conduct our services in the name of some other reason? The truth is that pastors are being arrested for holding church services while hardened criminals are being set free. Church members are being written tickets for attending drive-in and other religious services that are following the same social distancing and disinfection practices as restaurants and other businesses. Church doors are all but being chained and locked shut while businesses like home improvement and liquor stores are considered essential.
I believe, in addition to the physical battle, there is a spiritual battle being waged during this pandemic; the consequences of which may reach far beyond COVID-19. But we are not helpless just to sit back and watch it happen. We are a people of prayer. And we serve a prayer-answering God. We need to pray for the protection of our religious freedoms. The same religious freedoms that countless men and women died for in service to our country and that we just took time to remember on Memorial Day. We need to pray for pastors and churches that are facing persecution because they feel they can open their doors safely just like so-called "essential businesses." We need to pray for our leaders that they would make the right decisions. We need to pray for our politicians, regardless of party or affiliation, that the demonic ideology of freedom FROM religion would be uprooted. Most importantly, we need to pray that God's will be done.
You can read the original article on the letter from the Chicago Department of Health regarding the church in Chicago by clicking the link below:
Pray for Our Religious Freedoms
We need to be in prayer for our religious freedoms. Last week, the Chicago Department of Health has issued a letter to a Romanian Pentecostal church stating that, if they were to open their doors, they would be considered a "public nuisance" and may be subject to "summary abatement." That's a fancy legal way to say that the government would have the right to forcibly close and even destroy the church if they deemed it necessary.
They have since retracted this statement and the governor has amended the requirements for churches in Illinois. Even still, I believe we are entering uncharted waters on the separation of church and state during this COVID-19 pandemic. We have a responsibility as a church to do the right thing, including closing the doors, if that is what it takes to keep our members and communities safe. But the government does not have the constitutional authority to forcibly require the church to do so. In fact, the First Amendment states that the government "shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The Constitution does not have a pause button.
If the government can cross this line in the name of COVID-19, what is to stop them from telling us what we can preach or how we can conduct our services in the name of some other reason? The truth is that pastors are being arrested for holding church services while hardened criminals are being set free. Church members are being written tickets for attending drive-in and other religious services that are following the same social distancing and disinfection practices as restaurants and other businesses. Church doors are all but being chained and locked shut while businesses like home improvement and liquor stores are considered essential.
I believe, in addition to the physical battle, there is a spiritual battle being waged during this pandemic; the consequences of which may reach far beyond COVID-19. But we are not helpless just to sit back and watch it happen. We are a people of prayer. And we serve a prayer-answering God. We need to pray for the protection of our religious freedoms. The same religious freedoms that countless men and women died for in service to our country and that we just took time to remember on Memorial Day. We need to pray for pastors and churches that are facing persecution because they feel they can open their doors safely just like so-called "essential businesses." We need to pray for our leaders that they would make the right decisions. We need to pray for our politicians, regardless of party or affiliation, that the demonic ideology of freedom FROM religion would be uprooted. Most importantly, we need to pray that God's will be done.
You can read the original article on the letter from the Chicago Department of Health regarding the church in Chicago by clicking the link below:
https://lc.org/newsroom/details/052320-chicago-threatens-to-close-or-destroy-churches-1