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Dear John,
For over a year, the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted nearly every aspect of American life, including school, work, entertainment, and even worship.
Last March, 99 percent of churches ceased in-person gatherings, and church leaders across the country had to wrestle with difficult questions about how to minister to their congregants safely and effectively.
For Jeremy Wong, the associate pastor at Orchard Community Church in California, it was suddenly impossible to minister the way he and so many other pastors had under California's suffocating COVID lockdown rules.
From the beginning of the pandemic, Family Research Council has been working with pastors and church leaders like Jeremy to help them reopen safely with resources like "Guidelines for Reopening Your Church" and our recent Issue Analysis titled "It Is Time for Churches to Reopen: Theological and Legal Implications of Unfair Restrictions on Churches."
Your financial partnership equips FRC to provide valuable resources like these to help churches navigate their congregants' health and safety while protecting their First Amendment rights.
Donate Now to Protect Religious Freedom
As the pandemic wore on and states relaxed restrictions, abortion clinics, tattoo parlors, and liquor stores were allowed to reopen. However, many states insisted that churches remain closed.
Churches around the country were held to a different standard, and as a response to the continued unfair discriminatory restrictions and mandates, some churches sought relief from the courts.
By October, after months of trying to lead Bible studies and prayer meetings over Zoom, Jeremy had had enough. He decided to join a lawsuit to fight California's over-the-top limits on in-home religious gatherings.
Finally, just a few weeks ago, something happened that he "never in [his] wildest thoughts" expected: they won!
"I didn't have super high expectations," the 40-year-old told the Mercury News. But the feeling of relief is unmistakable.
By a 5-4 vote just before midnight Friday, April 9, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed that the group of challengers "are irreparably harmed by the loss of free exercise rights for even minimal periods of time." California officials, in their opinion, haven't been able to prove that "public health would be imperiled" with less oppressive policies.
Once again, Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett argued, the state is showing preference to secular businesses. And that's a violation of the First Amendment "whenever they treat any comparable secular activity more favorably than religious exercise."
Christians should have the same freedom to gather as people at "hair salons, retail stores, personal care services, movie theaters, private suites at sporting events and concerts and indoor restaurants," the majority insisted.
The church, Jeremy argued, is just as essential -- if not more so -- than all of these other services. "...[A]t least from a pastor's perspective, [prayer groups and Bible studies] are important because they address needs of people in the congregation that things like medicine can't."
The Supreme Court has said as much during COVID -- five times in California alone.
"The Supreme Court has made it abundantly clear that states cannot treat religion differently from secular interests in the name of the pandemic," FRC's Katherine Beck Johnson insisted. "It's time states start listening to SCOTUS and stop forcing religious adherents to go to court to have their rights upheld."
The First Amendment rights of churches and religious groups must be protected, even in a pandemic.
At FRC, we will continue to guide churches on safely reopening and standing against the threat of government overreach. Will you consider giving your best gift of $35, $75, $150, $250, or even $500 or more to help equip our mission?
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We are at a pivotal crossroads in this country. Our culture is increasingly hostile to the biblical worldview, and religious freedom is being contested in our courts. But because of supporters like you, John, Family Research Council is firmly anchored in our mission to preserve our freedoms and biblical values.
Your support equips us to affect change at every level: Washington D.C., schools, churches, and local communities. We know it because we've seen it. Together let's continue to protect the sanctity of human life, marriage, family, and our freedoms for future generations.
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