Sheriffs, GOP officials, ministers want to know why NC churches can't hold indoor services

When Gov. Roy Cooper moved the state into the first of three phases to resume business and social activities amid the pandemic last week, he allowed churches to hold outdoor services as long as families followed social distancing guidelines. Meanwhile, many retailers were allowed to have dozens or even hundreds of customers and employees – up to 50 percent of the capacity under fire codes – inside their stores.

"Governor, let God’s people go," Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League of North Carolina, wrote in a letter to Cooper on Monday. "We can arrange our worship services indoors and also take precautions to protect people’s health as sufficiently, perhaps even better than any business."

Creech and others argue that the rules on church services are an unconstitutional infringement of their First Amendment rights.

"Gov. Cooper's absurd state order is unconstitutional on two grounds: It treats churches differently than commercial establishments, and it treats some religions differently than others," Sen. Kathy Harrington, R-Gaston, said in a statement.

Cooper's order limits indoor services to 10 people – 50 are allowed for a funeral – but a church may operate at capacity indoors if a particular faith’s dogma requires indoor meetings of more than 10 people in the same room.

"The governor has prevented more than 10 people from meeting in a chapel for a worship service, but he simultaneously allows 50 people to meet in that same chapel in the same pews if the worship service involves a funeral. There is no health and safety distinction between these two gatherings in the same chapel," Sen. Carl Ford, R-Rowan, said in a statement.

Cooper said during a Tuesday news conference that people are moving around inside a retail establishment, while they are seated in pews for extended periods during a worship service. Being stationary indoors would put people at greater risk of spreading the coronavirus, he said.

Creech has called for civil disobedience by churches across North Carolina if Cooper doesn't clarify his order by May 22.

Sheriffs and other law enforcement authorities would be responsible for enforcing any violations of the order, but the North Carolina Sheriffs Association is siding with those who want indoor services. The association's directors signed a resolution asking Cooper amend his order so the "indoor worship services are not prohibited ... if they adhere to similar requirements that allow for the operation of retail businesses."

"The churches that are asked whether they do the internet process, whether they're having services outside, if a situation presents itself where they cannot do that, then they are allowed at that particular point to take service within doors," said Richmond County Sheriff James Clemmons, chairman of the state association.

Church services are only one of the problems some GOP state officials have with Cooper's phased reopening plan.

Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler, State Treasurer Dale Folwell, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Mark Johnson, Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey and Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry sent Cooper a letter Tuesday demanding a special Council of State meeting so the governor can provide more detail on his plan.

"There are numerous ways to protect lives and livelihoods at the same time while allowing healthy North Carolina citizens to return to work and giving them the ability to provide for themselves and their families. We would like to discuss, as a Council, provisions relating to restaurants, salons and barbershops, entertainment small businesses, church and worship services and hospitals and health care," the letter says.

Guidance from the White House Coronavirus Task Force on resuming normal activities is only guidance, the officials wrote in the letter, noting that it "allows maximum flexibility down to the county level."

Cooper appeared irritated when asked about the letter during a news conference Tuesday afternoon.

"Pandemics cannot be partisan," he said. "We are going to rely on the science and the facts to tell us when we can reopen."

"Governor Cooper should explain what his administration's overarching strategy is," Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger said in a statement. "Is his strategic endgame to prevent much of the population from ever becoming infected? Does he believe that is possible? Or is his strategic endgame to manage the virus as it naturally spreads through the population – to protect the highest-risk groups while seeking herd immunity through the young and healthy first?

"We need a view into the administration's thinking. What goal is driving his policy decisions? What does he think is achievable?" said Berger, R-Rockingham.