(PresidentialWire.Com)- Kentucky Mayor Greg Fischer reversed his previous order that prohibited church gatherings over Easter and will now allow religious services to continue in the city of Louisville.
On Tuesday, non-profit group First Liberty announced that an agreement had been made between the legal representation for On Fire Christian Church and the Kentucky Mayor to allow drive-in services that comply with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.
By operating drive-in religious services, worshippers and churches will abide by social distancing rules that help prevent the spread of the Chinese coronavirus.
Roger Byron, senior counsel for the First Liberty Institute, issued a statement thanking the mayor and city for allowing worshippers to continue attending services.
“We are grateful to Mayor Fischer and Louisville city officials who worked with us to ensure their policies are both consistent with the Constitution and the CDC’s guidelines,” Byron said in a press statement. “During this challenging time, we need to see more of this kind of cooperation between government officials and the religious community.”
The news of the new agreement followed a temporary restraining order granted by District Court Judge Justin Walker that stopped Mayor Fischer blocking a drive-in Easter service at the On Fire Church. The story hit the national news after it was discovered the city government was recording the vehicle registrations of those who attended the church on the important Christian holiday.
First Liberty said that the church received unfair criticism as the drive-in service had already been operating for many weeks and was in compliance with CDC guidelines on social distancing.
On April 12, Mayor Fischer released videos on Twitter wishing people a happy Easter but encouraged people to stay home rather than attending church services. Even though they weren’t mingling in large crowds.
Happy Easter & thank you to everybody for helping us through this challenging time. Louisville has demonstrated the good word of loving one another by staying home & practicing social distancing. pic.twitter.com/rwTN4o3roX
— Mayor Greg Fischer (@louisvillemayor) April 12, 2020
Fischer’s lockdown order was condemned by Judge Walker, who slammed the order as being similar to a parody report from “The Onion.”
“That sentence is one that this Court never expected to see outside the pages of a dystopian novel, or perhaps the pages of The Onion,” he said. “But two days ago, citing the need for social distancing during the current pandemic, Louisville’s Mayor Greg Fischer ordered Christians not to attend Sunday services, even if they remained in their cars to worship – and even though it’s Easter.”
So, that’s that! Many Louisville residents unfortunately missed Easter services, but can now worship freely in the safety and confinement of their cars.
