Public gatherings have been banned in the United States of America for a brief about of time due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
However, there are a number of people that are not following the laws of the government.
A California church now has a public nuisance notice posted on its front doors after they failed to comply with the public health stay-at-home order that was set out by the state.
Pastor Jon Duncan of the Cross Culture Christian Center in Lodi continued to hold his church services inside the South Ham Lane House of Worship with parishioners gathering together for his sermon.
After the incident, Pastor Duncan said, “I want to let people know that we as a church, we love people, we understand that the virus is a serious issue.”
The pastor added, “We do believe this right to meet is upheld by the First Amendment.”
Pastor Duncan told the police of his plans to keep the church open amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
Last Sunday, police officers entered his church service to explain the orders of the state to keep churches closed.
Pastor Duncan said, “It was chilling on free speech at that point because it was clear that we were going to have to do something different and or face the consequences.”
Patricia Wilcox, a neighbor of the church, said that she wants the services to stop for a while so everyone can stay safe.
Wilcox said, “I mean we’re all seniors here, this is a senior apartment complex.”
She added, “We’ve closed down all of our meetings here.”
Jeffrey Kravitz, a civil rights attorney based in Sacramento, says that the church’s First Amendment argument is one that has not been tested in a public health crisis like this one.
In a statement Kravitz released, he said, “It is absolutely not an easy question.”
He added, “How long does the emergency exist? At what point can we say there is no longer an emergency? No one knows the answer to these questions.”
The pastor says no one in his congregation has tested positive for the virus.
Pastor Duncan said, “I do understand the stance that we’re taking, and not everybody’s going to understand it, but I do believe it is the right one.”
Pastor Duncan has hired an attorney to formally request the state of California to give churches exemptions from the stay at home order that they have set out.
The church has also sent a cease and desist letter to the city of California.