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This may have already been posted, but it touches on New Orleans (given the deceased likely contracted COVID19 while in the city), but a timely reminder to listen to medical advice and formal warnings rather than “spiritual” advice.
Being a former pastor/minister myself, I just want to say that not all, or not even most pastors are like this. The pastors I frequently worked with care deeply about their congregations and would take all of the measures necessary protect their people. And for most of them, politics was best left for kitchen table discussions and seldom broached in their churches unless it was to pray for their political leaders. It drives me crazy sometimes when a pastor like this one is held up as representing the way most pastors carry themselves when the opposite is true.
The vast majority of the pastors and churches I know personally are streaming their services and/or holding virtual Bible studies using social media or video chat apps.
I, for one, would never put my church in harm's way needlessly. If the authorities say they staying home is the best way to protect people, we will do that. It's imperative that ministers and pastors are aware of threats to public safety. When they don't do that, you get what happened with the cult in Korea. That incident there was the catalyst that really started the epidemic there. I'm convinced that some pastors here saw that story and started taking measures to protect their congregations here. For the most part, it seems to be working here because of the virtual services and social distancing they're using. The ones not doing this are irresponsible and shouldn't be in the positions they're in.