Arts and crafts giant Hobby Lobby is slowly shutting down stores across the country amid intense criticism about a letter claiming the company boss’s wife had a vision from God telling the chain to stay open.

Calls to stores around the country show some are open, some are closing while others just don’t know what is going on.

The company did not respond to a request for comment.

The confusion follows a letter sent to stores last week by chief executive David Green, who said his wife Barbara had had a heavenly vision about the coronavirus.

Many store employees took that as a message that the store should stay open because God would protect them from illness.

Arts and crafts giant Hobby Lobby is slowly shutting down stores across the country amid intense criticism about a letter claiming the company boss David Green's wife Barbara (left) had a vision from God telling the chain to stay open. Green called his 76-year-old wife his family’s ‘prayer warrior’ in the letter

Many store employees took Barbara Green's vision as a message that the store should stay open because God would protect them from illness

‘In her quiet prayer time this past week, the Lord put on Barbara’s heart three profound words to remind us that He’s in control. Guide, Guard and Groom,’ wrote Green.

‘We serve a God who will Guide us through this storm, who will Guard us as we travel to places never seen before, and who, as a result of this experience, will Groom us to be better than we could have ever thought possible before now.’

Green called his 76-year-old wife his family’s ‘prayer warrior’ in the letter.

‘While we do not know for certain what the future holds, or how long this disruption will last, we can all rest in knowing that God is in control,’ Green wrote.

‘The Company’s leaders are doing all they can to balance the need to keep the Company strong and the needs of employees.

‘To help ensure our Company remains strong and prepared to prosper once again when this passes we may all have to “tighten our belts” over the near future,’ he added.

He said: ‘God has blessed this company with so much. His blessings and the fruits of all of your hard work, have made it possible for the company to not only operate without significant amounts of debt, but for the past decade to maintain wages that have far exceeded most retailers.

‘Many retailers are not as fortunate and are instead saddled with what may be overwhelming debt.’

Stores in states such as New York that have closed down all non-essential businesses have shuttered.

A notice posted on the door of the store in upstate Queensbury said: ‘Based on guidance from public health officials, we are closed effective 3/22/2020 due to the COVID-19 coronavirus.’

‘In her quiet prayer time this past week, the Lord put on Barbara’s heart three profound words to remind us that He’s in control. Guide, Guard and Groom,’ wrote Green

It went on to say the store would reopen ‘when the situation improves.’

But calls to other stores provided a mixed response. In Bangor, Maine, and suburban Kansas City, employees said Monday was the last day of business before closure.

But in Ammon, Idaho and Bartlesville, Oklahoma, they said there were no plans to close right now.

A note posted on the company website said the company had ‘proactively implemented measures to help minimize risks of shopping in our stores,’ adding they were increasing the number of times stores are cleaned and they have restricted employees from traveling.

‘If an employee is suspected of having COVID-19 based on symptoms and/or known direct or indirect exposure, we will send that employee for medical care and to self-isolate at home and will promptly coordinate with public health officials.’

The note did not say whether affected employees would receive any benefits but, according to Business Insider, its benefits package states that only salaried employees are eligible for sick leave.

Green, 78, a devout Christian, started the business making picture frames in his garage with the help of a $600 loan before opening his first store in Oklahoma City in 1972. He funded the $500 million Bible Museum in Washington, D.C. in 2017.

Forbes rates Green’s family, as the 70th richest in the United States, with a net worth of $6 billion.

The son of an impoverished preacher, Green gives half of the company pretax profits to a portfolio of evangelical ministries, according to his page on Wikipedia.

Like fellow Christian-run giant Chick-fil-A, Hobby Lobby does not open on Sundays.

Steve Green, co-founder of the Museum of the Bible and president of Hobby Lobby

But Green’s decision to trust in God for deliverance from coronavirus drew ridicule online.

One employee, who did not reveal where he or she worked, wrote on Reddit: ‘I’m scared and coworkers are also scared. Some people have outright walked out.

‘Considering doing the same soon. Why do I have to put up with this.’

Another Hobby Lobby employee, ‘SpiralEyedGnome’ said: ‘It’s so easy to say “stay strong” when they aren’t the ones on the sales floor dealing with people who refuse to listen to self quarantine rules.

‘I can’t make people stay home and the ones who have been granted the privilege to stay or work from (home) are getting bored and are out shopping now. Yesterday was our busiest day of the week.’

A Reddit contributor wrote: ‘My wife had a vision from God. God said we should keep making money at the expense of others.’

And a contributor called Pastafarian added: ‘It is truly frightening that anyone listens to the people that say they hear voices in their head. People that hear voices in their heads need help from a psychiatrist. They certainly shouldn’t be the guiding voice for any companies’ executive leadership.’

Hobby Lobby says it has more than 900 stores nationwide, opening four new ones this month alone. Its most recent opening was in Sandusky, Ohio, on Friday last week.

A sign on the door of Hobby Lobby on Route 22 on March 22, 2020 in Springfield Township, NJ

A notice posted on the door of the store in upstate Queensbury said: ‘Based on guidance from public health officials, we are closed effective 3/22/2020 due to the COVID-19 coronavirus.’

The person who answered the phone at that store on Monday — just its third operating day — said they were open but would close on Tuesday at least until April 6.

This is not the first time that Green’s Christian beliefs have caused controversy.

In 2014 Hobby Lobby’s decision to refuse to give contraceptive coverage in its Obamacare health insurance package went all the way to the Supreme Court which ruled in favor of the company.

Hobby Lobby argued it should not have to cover morning-after pills arguing their effect amounts to abortion.

The previous year a shopper reported that an employee at a Hobby Lobby in Marlboro, New Jersey, had told them the company did not carry goods celebrating Jewish holidays, even though some of its bestsellers are Christmas, Easter and other Christian holiday merchandise.

The company later changed its rules and started selling bar mitzvah, Hannukah and Passover items.

And Green came under fire for allegedly looting archaeological sites in the Middle East to stock his Bible Museum.