GREENSBORO, N.C. — North Carolina legislators and leading sheriffs want Governor Roy Cooper to clarify or remove a portion of his executive order that limits how religious services can convene under his eased stay-at-home rules for COVID-19.
Gov. Cooper, a democrat is also defending details the stay-at-home order against the criticisms by Republican elected officials and the latest weekly protests at his home. An altered COVID-19 order allows more businesses to open, but barber shops, movie theater, and gyms remain closed. The order is also keeping narrow the exceptions for churches to hold services indoors.
Cooper’s health and human services secretary said on Monday state lawyers are taking a second look at the language designed to provide an exception to the continued ban on mass gatherings. The governor’s order states permitted worship services “shall take place outdoors unless impossible,” but state senators said it's unclear what impossible means. The North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association executive committee asked Gov. Cooper to simply allow indoor services.
Last week the association issued a resolution calling for the governor to amend the stay-at-home to allow for churches to hold worship services inside, provided they meet the same social distancing guidelines which allow for retailers and essential businesses to reopen.
Several pastors and parishioners have had an issue with the mass gatherings ban and its impact on church services, according to a spokesperson for the NCSA.
"The concerns that the sheriffs were dealing with were brought to them by citizens and religious leaders in their community asking whether or not their religious worship services would be shut down or whether people would be charged with misdemeanors for going to church," said Eddie Caldwell of the NCSA.
The resolution was not voted on by all 100 sheriffs in the state but was signed by the association's officers after a unanimous vote by its executive committee.
Public health officials have said stationery indoor activities like religious services present a higher chance for transmission. However, some Triad sheriffs say if some businesses and retailers which have been considered essential can operate under strict guidelines, churches too should have the same flexibility for indoor gatherings because they too are essential to the community.
"At the right place in the right time you can be infected no matter how long you pop in and pop out," said Sheriff Kimbrough of Forsyth County referring to shoppers going to grocery stores, the mall, or an ABC liquor store, which is considered essential.
"We could actually temperature check everybody that comes in, we can provide masks for the worshipers and parishioners, we can do cleaning services before and after every service, we can do what needs to be done," said Sheriff Kimbrough.
After reviewing the Phase I provisions of Governor Cooper's Executive Order No. 138 that pertain to retail establishments and religious services, Sheriff Rogers of Guilford County sent a statement in support of the association's resolution.
"The Sheriff supports the resolution adopted last week by the NC Sheriff's Association which would further relax restrictions on houses of worship, and allow them to operate under the same COVID-19 guidelines as retail establishments. As the Sheriff understands it, the Resolution would permit religious services to be conducted indoors but at 50% of the normal seating capacity, and subject to social distancing and additional cleaning requirements. Church staff would also be screened for COVID-19 symptoms just like employees of retail establishments. In addition, the existing provisions of Executive Order No. 138, would permit religious institutions to hold outdoor services with no limitations on attendance provided that social distancing precautions are followed," read the statement.
A new guideline from the governor's office states that the 10 person limit doesn't apply where it's not possible to conduct outdoor or online services or a series of indoor services with fewer than 10 people.
Cooper said on Tuesday that “pandemics cannot be partisan" and that he had recently signed a bipartisan COVID-19 funding bill. Hundreds of demonstrators critical of his stay-at-home order rallied again in front of the Executive Mansion on Tuesday.
The full text of the NCSA resolution reads below:
WHEREAS, the sheriffs of North Carolina support our citizens and support and defend the constitutional right of all North Carolina citizens to practice their individual religion, peaceably assemble, and freely worship in their houses of worship and elsewhere, as provided for and protected by the Constitution of the United States and the North Carolina State Constitution; and
WHEREAS, the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States provides that: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…"; and
WHEREAS, the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States is made applicable to the State of North Carolina by the Fourteenth Amendment; and
WHEREAS, Article I, Sec. 13 of the North Carolina State Constitution provides that: "Religious liberty. All persons have a natural and inalienable right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences, and no human authority shall, in any case whatever, control or interfere with the rights of conscience"; and
WHEREAS, Executive Order No. 138 was issued by the Honorable Roy Cooper, Governor of North Carolina, on May 5, 2020, to become effective at 5:00 pm on May 8, 2020; and
WHEREAS, Section 2.C. provides that people may leave their residence for "Allowable Activities"; and
WHEREAS, Section 2.C.2. provides that people may leave their homes to look for or obtain goods and services (i.e. to shop) from a business operation that is not closed by a current Executive Order; and
WHEREAS, Section 2.C.7. provides that people may leave their homes to travel to and from a place of worship or exercise any other rights protected under the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and its North Carolina counterparts; and
WHEREAS, Section 3.A. provides that most businesses and organizations can be open; and
WHEREAS, Section 3.B., C., and D. set forth specific requirements that must be adhered to by retail businesses that are allowed to be open, as well as additional recommendations specific to retail businesses and recommendations for all businesses (retail or other); and
WHEREAS, Section 6.A. prohibits mass gatherings of more than 10 persons at the same time in a single space but specifies that mass gatherings do not include gatherings "for worship"; and
WHEREAS, Section 6.C. requires that gatherings for worship of more than 10 people are only allowed if they "take place outdoors unless impossible"; and
WHEREAS, the sheriffs of North Carolina believe that the restrictions and recommended guidelines that apply to persons who gather to worship should be no more stringent than those that apply to businesses that are allowed to remain open; and
WHEREAS, the restriction in Executive Order No. 138 that requires gatherings "for worship" of more than 10 persons to be held outdoors unless "impossible" to do so is significantly more restrictive than the restrictions in Executive Order No. 138 on "Retail Businesses"; and
WHEREAS, the sheriffs [and other law enforcement officers] are tasked by Governor Roy A. Cooper in Executive Order No. 138 and all previous Executive Orders related to COVID-19 with the enforcement of the Order; and
WHEREAS, the sheriffs of North Carolina, on a daily basis, individually and personally talk with many of the citizens of our state regarding the enforcement and impact of Executive Orders related to COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, many citizens have told sheriffs that they do not understand nor agree with the Governor's limits on worship services that are more restrictive than the Governor's limits on businesses and other allowable activities, and the wording of these more restrictive limitations creates interpretation and enforcement issues for law enforcement.
NOW, THEREFORE, the North Carolina Sheriffs' Association respectfully requests that Governor Roy A. Cooper amend Executive Order No. 138 to provide that indoor worship services are not prohibited by Executive Order No. 138 if they adhere to similar requirements that allow for the operation of retail businesses.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned by our signatures below, do hereby certify that this Resolution was adopted on behalf of the Association unanimously by the Executive Committee of the North Carolina Sheriffs' Association.
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