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SAN FRANCISCO – California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office on Saturday said it will issue revised guidelines for indoor religious services after the Supreme Court lifted the state’s ban on indoor worship during the coronavirus pandemic, but left restrictions on singing and singing in place.
In the most significant legal victory against California’s Covid-19 health orders, the High Court issued decisions Friday night in two cases where churches argued the restrictions violated their religious freedom. The judges said that for now, California cannot continue to ban religious services indoors, but can limit attendance to 25% of a building’s capacity and restrict chanting and singing inside.
California has restrictions in place because the virus is more easily transmitted indoors and singing releases tiny droplets that can carry the disease.
Newsom’s office said these measures were imposed to protect worshipers from infection.
“We will continue to apply the restrictions the Supreme Court left in place and, after reviewing the decision, we will issue revised guidelines for worship services to continue to protect the lives of Californians,” the attache said. Governor Daniel Lopez’s press release in a statement. declaration.
Prior to the ruling, indoor worship services were banned in counties with purple levels – those considered to pose a widespread risk of coronavirus transmission. This level represents the vast majority of the state.
Judges were acting on emergency demands to end restrictions at South Bay United Pentecostal Church in Chula Vista and the Pasadena-based Harvest Rock Church and Harvest International Ministry, which has more than 160 churches across the state .
“You can go to your place of worship now! You can go back to church, we’re thrilled about that, ”Pastor Art Hodges of South Bay United Pentecostal Church told NBC SanDiego.
The church has defied state orders since last May by hosting an indoor service while following COVID-19 security protocols, Hodges said. He said he was grateful to hold Sunday services “without any pressure, threats or concerns” and added that the 25 percent attendance limit will cause him to add two or three more services to accommodate members of the ‘church.
“It at least gives us some leeway to operate,” he said.
On Instagram, the Harvest Rock Department in downtown Los Angeles announced that it will be hosting an in-person service on Saturday night.
“Bring the kids! We would love to see the whole family for service tonight! says the ad, followed by the hashtag #inpersonservice.
The church said in a statement it would continue to seek the right to sing during indoor services, arguing that the state unfairly allowed the entertainment industry to film a singing competition but not during indoor worship. .
“While it’s one thing to lock down the database, it’s a totally different motive to give some groups a right that is denied to others.” said the statement.
The most recent court judge, Amy Coney Barrett, said in her first signed notice that it was up to the churches to demonstrate that they had the right to be exempt from the ban on singing. Writing for herself and for Judge Brett Kavanaugh, she said it was not clear at this point whether the singing ban was enforced “at all levels.”
Not all places of worship are planning to reopen right away.
The head of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco said the Supreme Court was “doing no one a favor” by lifting the ban.
“We try to follow the science and we try to be patient,” Dean Malcolm Clemens Young told the San Francisco Chronicle.
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the largest of its kind in the United States with more than 5 million Catholics, has cautiously advised “parishes that choose to return” to indoor worship to follow the rules of song and room capacity , in addition to requiring physical distance and face masks.
“The Archdiocese of Los Angeles welcomes the Supreme Court’s decision to allow indoor worship services,” he said in a statement.
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