Are Churches Spreading COVID?

COVID-19, ,
John Stonestreet, Radio Host and President of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview.

Recently, a New York Times story carried this sensationalist headline: “Churches Were Eager to Reopen. Now They are a Major Source of Coronavirus Cases.”

Hmmm? A “major source”?  The very data included in the article fell far short of backing up that claim: roughly 650 Coronavirus cases have been traced to 40 or so churches across the U.S.

That’s point-zero-two percent of all confirmed cases in the U.S., traced to point-zero-one percent of the estimated 350-thousand churches in America.  A few days after the story ran, the Times quietly changed the headline. Still, this kind of click-baiting mis-representation of the facts, especially in what seems like an obvious attempt to malign the Church, will not engender trust in the nation’s “paper of record.”

The only true part of the headline is that Christians are eager to return to Church, and the vast majority are being thoughtful, careful, and measured, not to mention serving their communities, as they work to re-open.

Copyright 2020 by the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Reprinted from BreakPoint.org with permission.

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State Releases New COVID-19 Guidance for Churches

COVID-19,

Unlike other states, Arkansas has never shut down places of worship during the COVID-19 outbreak.

However, the state has issued guidance to help ensure church meetings do not spread the coronavirus.

On Monday the Arkansas Department of Health issued updated guidance for churches and nonprofit organizations.

According to the state’s guidelines, churches are strongly encouraged to continue meeting online rather than in-person.

However, churches who meet in-person during this time must:

  • Discourage churchgoers from attending meetings if they have fever, cough, shortness of breath, or other COVID-19 symptoms, or if they have been exposed to the virus.
  • Advise people 65 or older or who have other underlying health conditions that they may not want to attend services
  • Inform people that no one will be admitted without a face mask

Churches must provide hand sanitizer stations at all public entrances.

Congregants must maintain strict social distancing indoors and outdoors.

Meet and greet times should be outdoors, if possible; church refreshments should be outdoors only, as well.

According to the guidelines, churches also should refrain from having altar calls, passing items among churchgoers, and conducting childcare or Sunday school classes.

You can find the full guidelines for churches here.

If the Arkansas Department of Health’s website fails to properly load the guidelines, you can find a copy of the guidelines on Google’s server here.

You can find additional information for churches from the Health Department here.

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