Capitol Hill Baptist Church sues D.C. on COVID order

Since mid-June, CHBC has held corporate worship outdoors on Sunday evenings at the property of a Southern Baptist church in Alexandria, Va., where requirements are less restrictive. The church desires to meet outdoors in D.C., where more than 60 percent of its 850 members live.

So CHBC went with “comply and (eventually) resist” vs. GCC’s “defy and resist” response. This far better honors Romans 13, and 1 Peter 2 as well as Acts and the Gospels.

I can’t comment on the merits of the case, though. I don’t really know what’s been going on in D.C. as far as fair/constitutional application of the rules to different kinds of venues.

But it’s fall and soon meeting out doors is going to get a whole lot harder in D.C.

We’ll see how serious Christians are about worship.

I don’t want to do it every weekend, especially given that I’m a Minnesotan, but I remember that in the old Soviet Union, believers would meet outside. Maybe we would gain some creativity if we did so periodically.

[T Howard]

We’ll see how serious Christians are about worship.

Or you can tell the Governor to stuff it and meet inside. He does not have the authority to tell you that your church cannot meet inside using reasonable accomodations for COVID (distancing, masks, etc).

[Mark_Smith]

Or you can tell the Governor to stuff it and meet inside. He does not have the authority to tell you that your church cannot meet inside using reasonable accomodations for COVID (distancing, masks, etc).

Assuming they lose their lawsuit, DC will just start fining CHBC everytime they meet. So, when the fines add up, the church will need to decide how much of God’s money they want to give to the government in order to meet 3x per week.

[T Howard]

Mark_Smith wrote:

Or you can tell the Governor to stuff it and meet inside. He does not have the authority to tell you that your church cannot meet inside using reasonable accomodations for COVID (distancing, masks, etc).

Assuming they lose their lawsuit, DC will just start fining CHBC everytime they meet. So, when the fines add up, the church will need to decide how much of God’s money they want to give to the government in order to meet 3x per week.

Or.. you appeal.

Or rename your church BLM Baptist Church then you can do whatever you want.

I have to wonder whether other entities are held to the same standards. Are restaurants that would seat several hundred limited to 100 people there including workers? There are a number of them in DC, I’m told.

There is also a body of 435 people plus aides that should be held to the regulation—and don’t let them change the quorum requirements for conducting business!

But the article says Capitol Hill Baptist has NOT been meeting since the shut-down began, not even by Zoom or any other “virtual” means.

CHBC has been meeting in a field next to Del Ray Baptist Church across the river in VA.

But that will soon become untenable

Religious people in Southern California have found a bold, creative solution for in-person meetings in spite of the continuing lockdown. This past weekend, several area churches attended church services disguised as righteously indignant rioters.

If I know CHBC, as long as they have a place outside to meet, they will continue to do so during winter if that’s what it takes. While the DMV gets really cold for me (a Floridian), the Yankees who live there are unimpressed by the winters - and they never tired of reminding me of that (in turn, I would mock every time the schools in the area cancelled recess or outdoor p.e. due to “extreme heat”).

The folks at CHBC are used to sitting through a two hour service every Sunday. They are tougher than we are.