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MANSFIELD — Although he never passed such orders, Governor Mike DeWine has been criticized during the COVID-19 pandemic for discouraging churches from holding in-person services. With many conservatives concerned about future government overreach, Republicans in the Legislature put a bill on the Governor’s desk. As a result, DeWine has signed a bill into law that restricts local and state officials from closing churches or other houses of worship.
“Restrictions of constitutional rights by the government during crisis must be temporary and the least burdensome approach to achieve a compelling interest,” says Pastor J.C. Church. “We cannot forget that a crisis is never a time to destroy constitutional liberty.”
Pastor J.C. Church is one of the faith leaders in a group of one hundred North Central Ohio clergy who wanted the “Ohio Department of Health Director’s Stay at Home Order” to expire on May 1st.
During the onset of the pandemic, DeWine was quoted as saying “It just seems to me to be a huge mistake for any pastor of any church to bring people together tomorrow or any other day,” DeWine said in late March, according to WCMH. “This is a critical period of time and it’s not just for the safety of the people in your congregation. Frankly, it’s for the safety of their friends, their neighbors and total strangers. So I just can’t imagine that anyone would want to take that risk.”
“Restrictions of constitutional rights by the government during crisis must be temporary and the least burdensome approach to achieve a compelling interest. We cannot forget that a crisis is never a time to destroy constitutional liberty.”
Pastor J.C. Church
DeWine spokesman Dan Tierney said that the governor agreed to enact the law curbing his own power to close churches because he never even contemplated taking such a step. The law will take effect in mid-December.
Pushed by Republican lawmakers, House Bill 272 prohibits a public official from ordering the closure of all places of worship in a geographic area and changing the time, place, or manner of conducting an election, except in certain circumstances.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, several states encroached on Americans’ First Amendment right of worship and assembly, disregarding it completely by forcing the closure of places of worship and religious institutions the amendment is seen as a preemptive step should Ohioans find themselves in this situation again.
Several states have restrictions in place on religious gatherings, which have led to legal battles for the religious freedom of churches and other houses of worship. In California, several churches are fighting Gov. Gavin Newsom’s COVID-19 orders banning indoor services.
In an earlier statement, Liberty Counsel Chairman Mat Staver called Newsom’s orders “unconstitutional.” “Governor Newsom supports tens of thousands of protestors, saying ‘God bless you. Keep doing it. This is wrong, and the governor’s unconstitutional hostility and discrimination against religious worship must end,” he said.
The Bottom Line:
The Bible says in Hebrews 10, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
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