Lodi Church Holds Palm Sunday Prayer In Parking Lot Despite Orders To Close Amid COVID-19 Crisis
LODI (CBS 13) -- A Lodi church ordered to close and refrain from all physical gatherings during the coronavirus crisis went ahead with Palm Sunday prayer in the church parking lot saying that the order to close goes against the U.S. Constitution.
"The church intends on continuing to safely gather for worship during Christianity's most holy week, exercising unalienable and fundamental rights protected by the First Amendment's right to peaceably assemble, freedom of speech, and the free exercise of religion, while simultaneously observing CDC recommended COVID-19 social distancing guidelines. The U.S. Constitution is not suspended by a virus," said Dean Broyles, president and chief counsel of the National Center for Law & Policy.
Cross Culture Christian Church held its services in the Bethel Open Bible Church facility. On Sunday, the church held its services in the parking lot where church members sat in their cars.
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