Earlier this week, Hospital Chaplain Delbert Freeman published a Facebook post where Dr. Adam Harrison and other professionals made recommendations for churches to be cautious with the rise of COVID-19, and some even advising places of worship to temporarily move online.
After Dr. Harrison’s plea for local churches to consider temporarily moving their services online was released by Cullman Daily, many local pastors were quick to voice their opinion on the issue. One prominent member of the Cullman area who chimed in was Daystar Pastor Jerry Lawson.
Lawson commented, “Asking ‘all churches’ to stop in person gatherings is like asking ‘all businesses’ to close their doors. Every church is different. Every space is different. The population of each church is different. Older congregations in small buildings are different from younger congregations in large buildings with multiple services and ion plasma filtration systems in their buildings. At our church we mandate social distancing, require masks for staff and volunteers, and no service is above 40% capacity. We are literally the safest place I’ve been since the pandemic hit. I realize that our community is in a difficult place right now and that the wonderful people in healthcare are carrying an immense burden, but blanket statements like this are usually over-simplistic and fail to find the real solution“
Presently, churches remain open for worship under social distancing guidelines after being shutdown for almost two months by Governor Kay Ivey earlier in the year.
