Service at Solid Rock Baptist Church in Berlin before the pandemic. Photo from a video on the church's website.
News update: On Friday afternoon, President Trump called for houses of worship to be deemed essential and governors to open them right now. "If they don't do it I will override the governors," he said. See also: https://youtu.be/jOWZAYzq3w8
A large Baptist church in Berlin will reopen for worship services on Sunday, May 24, even though New Jersey has not permitted large gatherings.
"It's safer than the Walmart. It's safer than Shoprite," Pastor Charles Clark Jr. of Solid Rock Baptist Church told 70and73.com Wednesday morning.
Pastor Clark, a faith leader in South Jersey who founded the church in 1981, said Memorial Day weekend is a perfect time to reopen. "How can you stay closed when people died for that freedom?" he asked.
Clark, 75 and a Winslow resident — who leads the church with his son, Pastor Charles Clark III — said normal Sunday attendance would total between 1,200 and 1,500. This Sunday, attendance is by appointment and the 10 a.m. service already is full with 200 worshippers. Clark and his son are considering a noon service.
The services also will be livestreamed, as they have been lately by the church.
Pastor Charles Clark Jr. of the Solid Rock Baptist Church of Berlin.
"We're telling people over 65, don't come," Clark said of the group particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus. Ushers will show participants their seats, spaced six feet apart, temperatures will be taken and hymnals and other normal parts of the service will not be handled, he said. The building has already been sanitized.
While New Jersey has opened several activities with restrictions, places of worship are not included.
Gov. Phil Murphy, speaking at Tuesday's daily COVID-19 briefing, said indoor functions where people are sedentary for some time is a problem. "I get asked morning, noon and night about non-essential retail, about dining, about graduations....We get asked about faith all the time," he said.Â
Colby Gallagher, public information officer for the Camden County Prosecutor's Office, said in an email response to a 70and73.com question: "As noted in our previous statement, those who violate any Executive Order are subject to a disorderly persons charge. A disorderly persons charge is issued via a summons and the case is venued in the municipal court in the town where a person is charged and is handled by the municipal prosecutor. The County Prosecutor’s Office’s primary jurisdiction covers indictable matters, not disorderly persons offenses."
MORE: Non-urgent medical, dental procedures okay beginning May 26
"Somebody has to take a stand," Pastor Clark said in a telephone interview with 70and73.com. "We're not looking for trouble. We just want to have church." Solid Rock Baptist is at 420 South White Horse Pike in Berlin.
Clark said other clergy have held services and some were cited by county prosecutors. Some are secretly holding worship services, he added.
"It's just time to open up...the curve was flattened," he said, noting the church has 60 flags out front for Memorial Day. "This virus could be here until the Lord comes."
