I just finished listening to David Gibbs III of the National Center for Life and Liberty, his video of recommendations dated May 13, 2020. I have also obtained and read the guidance PDF from David Gibbs II of the Christian Law Association. Both guidance recommends strong precautionary measures from the parking lot, into the building, and while inside the church building, all guidelines meant to minimize the risk of contracting Coronavirus for those in attendance and to limit the liability of the church in case of legal action. Both organizations seem to believe that we will never go back to “life as we knew it.” NCLL recommends that everything done in the church is documented, preferably on video:
· A posted notice of disclaimer that by attending our services the attendee assumes responsibility for their own health and will not seek legal action against the church should they get ill as a result of attending.
· The disinfecting procedures
· The safe distancing measures and
· Any contact the church might have with authorities.
Some of my chief concerns, when we return to the House of God is that I do not believe we can allow the scare that the media and the government fomented over this virus, to place us in a state of “new normal”.
· I am unwilling to meet under conditions of having to document everything we do from the parking lot to building for safety’s sake[1]
· I am unwilling to accept that the people of God will no longer be allowed to show reasonable affection and care for one another while in the house of the Lord
· I am unwilling to document who does and does not attend for the sake of government contact and surveilling
· I may be willing to allow for those who deem it necessary to wear masks, but I unwilling to require, or even recommend it
To return to church assembly with restrictions sets a precedent, in my opinion, giving the government ever-increasing authority over church worship. We must return with the same liberties that we had previously, or else we have given liberties I do not believe we can afford to lose.
Marvin McKenzie
In the fields, (resisting new normals)
[1] On a practical level, I simply know we will never do it well enough to meet the standard. I want our church to be an informal and reverential place of worship and not a business-like atmosphere.
No comments:
Post a Comment