The pastor of a church in Salem, Oregon where 72 parishioners, the pastor and the pastor’s wife all contracted coronavirus after they refused to adhere to social distancing and masking guidelines said they will continue to practice their faith despite a new outbreak in the state, ABC News reports.
“In the last several days, it is apparent that voices in our community and region want the church of Jesus Christ to be quiet and to be closed,” Scott Erickson of the Peoples Church in Salem told those in attendance at the Mother’s Day service that was also streamed online. “Not us, not here, not now. That’s not what we’re doing.”
The Peoples Church was one of ten churches that filed a lawsuit to stop Oregon Governor Kate Brown’s May 2020 public regulations limiting public gatherings, including church services, to stem the spread of the coronavirus. The limits were shifted to recommendations in December after the state saw cases drop.
“We’ll press on and honor what Jesus said in his word. He said, ‘I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.’ I believe his word is true,” Erickson said.