After judge’s order, Lawrence church continues in-person services despite pandemic
The Rev. Scott Hanks said Sunday’s in-person service at Heritage Baptist Church in Lawrence didn’t look much different from last weekend’s.
Congregants still sat with a pew between them to follow social distancing guidelines. They didn’t shake hands. The offering plate wasn’t passed around, and communion wasn’t administered.
The biggest difference: more people showed up.
Heritage Baptist Church is one of at least three churches in Kansas to continue holding in-person services as a legal battle continues over whether churches should be excluded from Gov. Laura Kelly’s executive order limiting mass gatherings to 10 or fewer people.
Local, state and national public health officials have said people should avoid gathering in groups, as part of a strategy to slow the spread of the new coronavirus.
Earlier this month, a board of the state’s top legislators overrode Kelly’s order. Then, the Kansas Supreme Court struck down the override hours before Easter.
The latest development came Saturday when a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order against part of Kelly’s executive order. The ruling paved the way for in-person religious services without violating the law.
Hanks, the pastor at Heritage Baptist in Lawrence, declined to say exactly how many people attended Sunday.
“I’m sure I could, but I better not do that,” he said. “I guess I don’t want to stir up more problems by giving out numbers.
But Hanks said the crowd had grown from the week before and that it was “absolutely” more than 10 people, adding that he “definitely had a good crowd today.”
As state officials in recent weeks began encouraging social distancing and placing tighter restrictions on gatherings, many churches turned to the Internet to stream their services without the physical presence of their laity.
Kansans have not eluded the community spread of coronavirus.
According to state data, about one in 10 Kansas residents who tested for COVID-19 were confirmed to have the disease. As of Friday, the state ranked 49th in testing its residents.
Lee Norman, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment has said that three case clusters in the state stem from church gatherings. One of them, a ministers’ conference held mid-March in Kansas City, Kansas, has resulted in 44 cases and five deaths from COVID-19. Another occurred in Sedgwick County, he said.
Lawsuit
Pastors of two other churches — Calvary Baptist Church in Junction City and First Baptist Church in Doge City — filed a lawsuit against Gov. Laura Kelly on Thursday, saying her order violated the first amendment and the Kansas Preservation of Religious Freedom Act.
They are being represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian nonprofit.
On Saturday U.S. District Judge John Broomes issued a temporary restraining order against part of Kelly’s executive order.
“Plaintiffs have made a sufficient showing that a live controversy exists as to whether the Governor’s current restrictions on religious activity . . . violate Plaintiffs’ First Amendment right to freely exercise their religion,” Broomes wrote in the ruling.
“Defendant has not argued that mass gatherings at churches pose unique health risks that do not arise in mass gatherings at airports, offices, and production facilities. Yet the exemption for religious activities has been eliminated while it remains for a multitude of activities that appear comparable in terms of health risks.”
As part of the Broomes’s order, the plaintiffs’ churches have to abide by 24 protocols, including those Hanks observed his congregation following Sunday.
Many of the church’s elderly members have been staying home, Hanks said. His congregation includes about 300 members. Some in attendance wore gloves and masks.
He noted that Douglas County had 43 confirmed cases and zero deaths as of Sunday, according to Douglas County health officials. No church members or relatives of church members have tested positive, he said.
“I am concerned, and obviously other precautions might have to be taken if there was some way the virus was in the church or somebody who had it,” Hanks said. “But there’s none of that.”
Hanks added it’s not possible for his church to stream services. There are no fiber optics on the side of Interstate-70 where the church sits, he said.
He’s also heard of churches hosting drive-up services in their parking lots.
“But you can’t get around that the Bible says ‘not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together,’” he said, referencing a passage from the book of Hebrews.
“There was no internet when the Bible was written,” he continued. “God intended for people to get together for church, and so that’s why we’re doing it, because we believe that’s what God wants.”
Hanks said he’s not taking the coronavirus lightly, acknowledging there is a risk when gathering.
He plans to continue following outlined precautions and holding in-person services for the foreseeable future.
“I just like people to know that we’re not some crazy cult group or something that demands for people to come to church,” Hanks said. “All we’re trying to do is during this virus time, is to leave a way out for people to be able to come to church.
“I look at it this way: Out of all the times that we need God, it’s now, so why would we close church doors during a time of national virus?”
In a news release Saturday, Kelly said the ruling is only the first step, adding that her order wasn’t about religion, but rather a public health crisis.
”There is still a long way to go in this case, and we will continue to be proactive and err on the side of caution where Kansans’ health and safety is at stake,” she said.
“Courts across the country have recognized that during this pandemic emergency the law allows governments to prioritize proper public health and safety.”
Fifty-nine additional coronavirus cases were reported in Kansas on Sunday, bringing the statewide total to 1,849, according to the Kansas Department of Health and the Environment.
Ninety-two Kansans have died from the disease.
The Wichita Eagle’s Michael Stavola contributed.
This story was originally published April 19, 2020 at 4:54 PM with the headline "After judge’s order, Lawrence church continues in-person services despite pandemic."
