More than a thousand people gathered on a beach in California to hold a worship service while churches are closed over coronavirus concerns.
“They miss their church families,” said Pastor Barry Sappington, who helped organize the service on Sunday. “They miss worshipping. Worship is a core part of a Christ follower’s life, and as you can see, people don’t want to go anywhere. They want to gather, they want to worship, and this is a perfect venue for them to do so.”
Local San Diego outlet NBC 7 reported an estimated 1,250 people gathered on Cardiff State Beach for a two-hour service and to also protest the closures of churches.
“It’s such a double standard, right? You have protesters who can go out, do gatherings like this, and nothing is spoken about; if anything, it’s praised,” local resident Heather Molchanoff said. “But then we’re not allowed to gather in church on Sunday.”
State officials estimated 5000 on the beach in San Diego tonight. I am undone at the movement God is pouring out across America!!!
BUT THIS MOMENT RIGHT HERE my son Ezra was baptized tonight 😭😭😭#LetUsWorship pic.twitter.com/IT9CQL9A1T
— Sean Feucht (@seanfeucht) July 27, 2020
The California health department ordered churches in counties that are being closely monitored for coronavirus cases to close earlier this month.
“We’re seeing an increase in the spread of the virus, so that’s why it’s incumbent upon all of us to recognize, soberly, that COVID-19 is not going away anytime soon until there is a vaccine or an effective therapy,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said at the time.
California has since surpassed New York, the country’s former epicenter of the coronavirus, in number of cases, with more than 450,000 confirmed cases and nearly 8,500 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. New York has over 411,000 confirmed cases and 32,630 deaths.
