Abbott says churches can open again — but many say they...

Hours after Gov. Greg Abbott issued an order that re-opens churches with limitations, many congregations said they will continue to hold services online and abide by recommendations to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Little has changed, Texas pastors said, in the wake of Abbott’s Tuesday order, which deems churches as “essential” services and supersedes county-level bans such as the one enacted in Harris County.

Abbott said religious services should either be conducted remotely or in-person using social distancing guidelines. He added that “drive-up services,” where congregants would remain in their cars, which some churches plan to use this Easter, would “satisfy the criteria that we’re talking about.”

David Duncan, pastor of Houston’s Memorial Church of Christ, said he appreciates Abbott’s recognition of the “importance of religion.” But he added, “The second greatest command is to love our neighbors as ourselves. For me, at this moment, the way I love my neighbor is by giving them physical distance.”

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Many congregations moved away from in-person gatherings prior to orders by local officials, including one by Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo that banned gatherings. Hidalgo said Tuesday afternoon that the county was reviewing Abbott’s order.

“We will continue doing what we have been doing,” said Mike Miller, pastor of Central Baptist Church in Jacksonville. “Gathering crowds in any way that would make 6-foot separation impossible is not acting responsibly.”

Abbott’s order comes one day after a group of pastors and longtime conservative leaders challenged the constitutionality of Harris County’s ban on in-person church services.

Jared Woodfill, the attorney representing the group, extolled Abbott’s new order as protecting the “sanctity of the First Amendment.” He also accused Hidalgo of picking “winners and losers” by restricting church gatherings.

“It’s ridiculous,” he said. “I come into contact with more people at H-E-B than I do at these small churches.”

Josh Ellis, head of Houston’s association of Southern Baptist churches, declined to comment on Abbott’s order.

Ellis did, however, advise churches to continue suspending in-person services. “Ministry is essential, and continues, while continuing to keep the most people safe,” he said.

The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, which suspended in-person services earlier this month, also said it is reviewing the governor’s order.

At one church in Washington state, nearly every member of a 60-person choir has tested positive or exhibited coronavirus symptoms after meeting for practice, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Earlier this week, the pastor of a megachurch in Tampa Bay, Fla., was charged with defying a local stay-home order by having two packed church services.

Such bans are fine, one expert on religious freedom said, so long as they’re applied equally to religion and non-religious institutions.

“Our freedoms are not absolute, and religious freedom is balanced against other interests — including, in this case, public health and safety,” said Benjamin Marcus, religious literacy specialist at the Freedom Forum’s Religious Freedom Center in Washington, D.C.

Another expert said Abbott’s order strikes such a balance.

“The order makes sense to me,” said Asma Uddin, an adviser on religious liberty for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

“Religious services are essential, but he still qualifies what he’s permitting by requiring folks to use online options first, and if in-person services are necessary, to follow the requisite social distancing guidelines,” Uddin said.

Marcus added that online services have still allowed for people to meet, just not in the same physical space.

“There are ways that people can access their communities,” he said, noting the prevalence of online services. “This would be a different conversation if the government said people can’t meet at all with members of their religious community.”

robert.downen@chron.com