SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom gave California churches the green light Monday to reopen, three days after President Donald Trump threatened to “override” states that continued to block in-person religious services due to the pandemic.
Newsom also was facing pressure from more than 1,200 California pastors who vowed to resume services this upcoming Sunday regardless of what the governor decided. At the same time, a lawsuit filed by a Southern California church reached the U.S. Supreme Court on Sunday night.
Church services, which had been banned since Newsom’s March 19 order, would look dramatically different under new state Department of Public Health guidelines. Religious services and funerals can host a maximum of 100 people, or 25 percent of building capacity, whichever is lower.
The state also advised caution around church singing. A religious choir practice in Washington state became a “superspreading” event in March that resulted in the majority of attendees contracting Covid-19 and two deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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