The Trump Department of Justice has sided with a small Virginia church in its effort to hold in-person church services for society’s disadvantaged during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pastor of Lighthouse Fellowship Church in Chincoteague Island, Va., was cited with a criminal citation on the 5th of April for holding a sixteen-person church service, even though each attendee in the 225-seat sanctuary was sitting at least six feet apart. The church had also sanitised the common areas and required everyone to use hand sanitiser, DOJ says. 

The Department of Justice filed a Statement of Interest on the 3rd of May urging a Virginia Federal Court to issue an injunction favouring the church. It questions why Virginia carves out exceptions for liquor stores, home improvement stores, and dry cleaners but not churches.

“For many people of faith, exercising religion is essential, especially during a crisis,” said Eric Dreiband, the DOJ’s Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “The Commonwealth of Virginia has offered no good reason for refusing to trust congregants who promise to use care in worship in the same way it trusts accountants, lawyers, and other workers to do the same. The U.S. Department of Justice will continue to monitor any infringement of the Constitution and other civil liberties, and we will take additional appropriate action if and when necessary.”

The church has a specialised ministry for the socioeconomically disadvantaged, including for recovering drug addicts and former prostitutes who “do not have the resources” to watch internet services, the DOJ brief says.

“For those members, Lighthouse is their only family and assembling with their church family is everything,” the brief concludes.

Source: christianheadlines.com