Though some La Jolla churches are embracing the opportunity to resume indoor services after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last week cleared the way for them to do so, several are opting not to right away.
Late Feb. 5, the high court lifted California’s ban on indoor worship during the COVID-19 pandemic, ruling that Gov. Gavin Newsom’s strict orders appeared to violate the Constitution’s protection of the free exercise of religion. The court left in place restrictions on indoor singing and chanting and allowed the state to limit attendance to 25 percent of a church’s building capacity in areas, such as San Diego County, considered to have widespread coronavirus risk. Newsom’s office the next day issued revised guidelines for indoor church services.
<p><img width="350" height="219" src="/media/8727016/open hymn book 350x219.jpg" alt="hymn book, open hymnal" class="ImageFloatRight"/>The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that houses of worship in California may hold indoor services, albeit with limits – but an attorney involved in the squabble says those limits are still unconstitutional.</p>
The Supreme Court is telling California that it can’t bar indoor church services because of the coronavirus pandemic, but it can keep for now a ban on singing
The office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state will soon issue revised guidelines for indoor worship services after the Supreme Court granted an emergency injunction against a public health ban on the practice but kept restrictions on singing, chanting and crowd size in place.