Is this response to church meeting restrictions viable? Helpful? Counterproductive?

He says he wants do things God's way but he's also looking at declining hospitalizations. He's not being consistent and you can't just go by declining numbers - there is still a risk with 100 or so people in church especially in a major city like Baltimore but even in nothing happened it sets a bad example and makes them look bad and potentially all churches look bad. If it was just about God's way then why didn't they meet earlier? And I guess he doesn't consider that God put them in that situation in the first place - allowed/caused the pandemic. And no where does the Bible prescribe a set number for gathering or that everyone who is a member of the church needs to be in church on any given Sunday. There were times throughout history when Christians couldn't meet with other believers for long periods. The Bible does say where 2 or 3 are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them so 10 would be more than fine.
 
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Response to Brianb

Maybe he felt, for the safety of the membership and staff, it was best not to meet while the risk were high.

Now that the risks are no longer as high, the pastor and leadership, may feel it's time to return to assembling.

I don't think it's ever wise to thumb your nose at secular government, but I do think there are times we must stand.

What if the local government says tou cannot meet until there is a vaccine.
What if they say you can never have more than 100 church member in assembly at a time.
What if they say you can not share the gospel publically because its offensive to some.
What is they say you must pay taxes on your property or on your offerings.
What if the local government says you must open up your membership or even hire employees people who are unsaved and do not believe the bible.

I would not have done it in the way he did, but I do think in the coming years we will be forced to to take a stand like we have never had to in this country.

At some point we must stand by what we believe and may have to use the courts if we feel the government is oversteping their bounds.
 
Response to Brianb

Maybe he felt, for the safety of the membership and staff, it was best not to meet while the risk were high.

Now that the risks are no longer as high, the pastor and leadership, may feel it's time to return to assembling.

I don't think it's ever wise to thumb your nose at secular government, but I do think there are times we must stand.

What if the local government says tou cannot meet until there is a vaccine.
What if they say you can never have more than 100 church member in assembly at a time.
What if they say you can not share the gospel publically because its offensive to some.
What is they say you must pay taxes on your property or on your offerings.
What if the local government says you must open up your membership or even hire employees people who are unsaved and do not believe the bible.

I would not have done it in the way he did, but I do think in the coming years we will be forced to to take a stand like we have never had to in this country.

At some point we must stand by what we believe and may have to use the courts if we feel the government is oversteping their bounds.

While I would agree with you if there was clearly a violation of religious rights or inconsistency on the part of the government (city of Baltimore in this case) if they allowed secular conferences but not churches but as long as the rule for Baltimore is 10 or less that should be obeyed. Whatever the Federal or state laws are municipal/county rules should be obeyed. An example close to home for me is if I want to do some archery, federal and state laws don't forbid me doing that but city bylaws state that I can't shoot arrows at my home or anywhere in the city (except where it can be safely done like a school with certified coaches/moderators). Maryland allows counties to make their own rules with regards to protecting their residents. Unfortunately not every county is equally safe. Many counties indeed have little or no cases but some have much more.
 
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The whole shutdown was a mistake. Let the virus run its course. Trump was wrong (2 to 3 weeks MAX). Governors are wrong. People are lemmings.

This is all "fine-tuning" for future "events".

Churches/pastors using the excuse of what the "community thinks" are wrong. If the "community" had its way, the churches would be razed and casinos built in their place.
 
The whole shutdown was a mistake. Let the virus run its course. Trump was wrong (2 to 3 weeks MAX). Governors are wrong. People are lemmings.

This is all "fine-tuning" for future "events".

Churches/pastors using the excuse of what the "community thinks" are wrong. If the "community" had its way, the churches would be razed and casinos built in their place.
I think I lean your direction on this. A few weeks shutdown may have been worthwhile to prevent hospitals from getting overwhelmed (which I thought was the only reason for the shutdown initially) but all we seem to be doing now is making this a slow drawn out process of most people getting infected.
 
The guy in the video couldn't resist the theatrics...he is hardly the guy I'd want as the public face of anything I was associated with.
Just do what you think the Lord would have you do and let the chips fall where they may. Fundy theatrics aside.
 
You must remember the very first thing our founding fathers decided to add to the constitution was the right to assemble and the protection of churches from regulation.
Many state constitutions also include these protections.

Most if not all churches abided by state restrictions on assembly, but now as businesses are allowed to open, in some states churches are not.

Some states have deemed liquor, tobacco and even marijuana shops essental but have banned churches from meeting. You can go to a packed Walmart or Home Depot on Sunday but not to church.
You can ride the subway with dozens of other people or fly in a crowded airplane, but 30 people social distanced in a large church building is prohibited.

It's time for the state supreme courts or even the US Supreme Court to decide what the 1st ammendment really means.
 
You must remember the very first thing our founding fathers decided to add to the constitution was the right to assemble and the protection of churches from regulation.
Many state constitutions also include these protections.

Most if not all churches abided by state restrictions on assembly, but now as businesses are allowed to open, in some states churches are not.

Some states have deemed liquor, tobacco and even marijuana shops essental but have banned churches from meeting. You can go to a packed Walmart or Home Depot on Sunday but not to church.
You can ride the subway with dozens of other people or fly in a crowded airplane, but 30 people social distanced in a large church building is prohibited.

It's time for the state supreme courts or even the US Supreme Court to decide what the 1st ammendment really means.

I heard that in one Walmart last month there were 81 employees who tested positive. They weren't all wearing facemasks even though that was the policy. Since then there have been others in other Walmarts who have tested positive. Where I'm from (Canada) Walmarts aren't as popular and masks aren't necessary (especially out west) so it is something different when I hear these stores are "packed" in the US.
 
Well... it seems silly to limit churches that can see 500 people to only 10 - they could probably safely distance from one another and have a lot more than that. It makes more sense to do it by the size (capacity) of the building.

It doesn't make sense to me that bars, tattoo places, and massage places can be open, and to ban churches. That doesn't seem to be dealing honestly or fairly with the situation.

There do seem to be some who are using the pandemic scare to attempt to silence those who disagree with them.
 
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