Left out of the mix last week when Gov. Kay Ivey announced she was rolling back some of the restrictions put in place to slow the spread of coronavirus pandemic were church services and other religious gatherings.
Not only has it forced parishioners to seek out other methods by which they participate in a weekly church service, but it has also put a financial burden on some churches as they are not able to collect contributions as they might if a church service were held in a sanctuary at a brick-and-mortar facility.
However, there can still be risks, according to State Sen. Randy Price (R-Opelika), who represents State Senate District 13, a district that includes Chambers and Randolph Counties, and portions of Clay, Cleburne and Lee Counties, all along the Alabama-Georgia state line.
He told Huntsville radio WVNN’s “The Jeff Poor Show” it was not without a desire nor effort to get people back to services at an actual church.
“We all want to get back into church,” Price said. “My wife and I sit on the couch every Sunday and do video church, and listen to our pastor, etc. But I think there’s one thing we want to make sure when we do that. We do it in the correct way. I am sure that most of the different churches throughout my district — they will sit down with not only the staff but the leadership of those churches, and to make sure that we do as far as what we can do in placing people throughout the church.”
Price, however, noted that in Chambers County, a one-time hotspot for COVID-19 cases was reported to have had the flare-up because of exposure to the virus at a church event.
“Unfortunately, in Chambers County … when you actually track this thing back to where the spikes actually happen — it happened in two small churches there in Chambers County,” he explained. “One was a dinner-on-the-ground-type situation. It was also an outside speaker that came from — I was told, and I hope I got this correct — the New Orleans area and did not know that when he actually came to speak to this church that he was infected. So, we all want to get back in church. We all do. We want to get back in fellowship with our different people that are members of our churches, etc. But we have got to take the same precaution in getting back to church as we take in opening back up our businesses.”
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Alabama, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly and host of Huntsville’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN.
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