Press statement from President Woodford | May 21, 2020
Questions about the following press statement, press release, or the legal action occurring should be directed to the media team at Becket. The contact person is Ryan Kolby: media@becketlaw.org or 202-349-7219.
Statement of Rev. Dr. Lucas Woodford | May 21, 2020
Good morning, I am Lucas Woodford, President of the Minnesota South District of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Since the beginning of this pandemic, Lutheran churches have been working with the government to love our neighbors and protect people from the spread of illness. Independent of executive orders issued by the Governor, Lutheran churches suspended public worship services, school, childcare operations, and congregational activities in the early stages of the crisis. Today is one of mixed emotions as we make the hard decision to reopen our churches to our communities after being left behind as the Governor’s office allows retail and other non-critical businesses to reopen.
During my 15 years as a parish pastor, I cherished the joys of spiritually caring for the people of my congregations. This certainly included fervent prayers for the continued physical health and well-being of those in my care, as well as physically providing for those in need. Even more, as a husband and father to six young children, ages two to sixteen, I am especially mindful of protecting and caring for my family during a pandemic context. In other words, the steps we are taking have not been entered into lightly.
Now that the state has deemed the risk of spreading coronavirus low enough to open non-critical businesses, we believe that we can responsibly and safely allow our communities to open in accordance with accepted public health guidelines. Thus, we are announcing that our churches may reinstate public gatherings as of May 26, 2020, with the first Sunday services occurring on Pentecost Sunday, May 31. As we have for months, we welcome a constructive dialogue with the state between now and then—one that hopefully results in religious worship no longer being treated in this discriminatory manner.
Governor Walz certainly has a difficult burden, and we pray for him and our governmental leaders regularly. It is not our nature to push against the government who Holy Scripture asks us to willingly obey. Yet, at the same time, just as the Apostle Paul exercised his legal right to appeal to Caesar while proclaiming the Good News of Christ the crucified, so we have come to a point that we are conscience-bound to exercise our legal right of appeal regarding the extreme and prejudicial nature of the inequitable restrictions being put upon communities of faith.
In anticipation of reopening, we have prepared safety protocols based on the guidance of the Department of Public Safety and the Department of Public Health. Along with Catholic bishops, we submitted a plan to the Governor on May 8 for his review that detailed the public health measures we would take. Yet, the Governor and his officials declined to engage with us in any meaningful way. We strongly encourage congregations to follow our strict protocols for hygiene and sanitation, as well as proper social distancing and the limits on the number in attendance.
We are extremely grateful for the constitutional guarantee of the free exercise of religion in this wonderful country. We believe that forbidding 11 people from gathering together in a church regardless of its size, while at the same time allowing malls and other “non-critical” businesses to open for people to congregate, fails to uphold that guarantee. Because we cannot abide an indefinite suspension of in-person worship, we have chosen to move forward in returning to worship. We do so humbly and respectfully, not wishing any ill will upon our Governor or state leaders. We will continue to pray for him and all those in authority as we respectfully engage in this legal process. But our sincere desire is simply to publicly, lovingly, and responsibly care for and minister to the precious souls of our congregations and communities in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Questions about the above press statement, press release, or the legal action occurring should be directed to the media team at Becket. The contact person is Ryan Kolby: media@becketlaw.org or 202-349-7219.