North Versailles, PA–:Since the beginning of the Coronavirus, there has been a debate as to what is “essential”, and what is not.
Obviously grocery stores such as Walmart are considered essential, as they sell a variety of necessary goods, however, it was ruled early on, that houses of worship were not.
On June 26th, Christian worshipers in Pennsylvania came up with a way to outsmart their Democratic governor, by gathering and holding service inside a Walmart.
Nancy Halford, a Walmart employee, stopped what she was doing to join the singing and record the event, and the video has now gone viral.
Democratic Governor Tom Wolf announced on April 3, that houses of worship were not essential.
He said:
“Individuals should not gather in religious buildings or homes for services or celebrations until the stay-at-home order is lifted.”
The Walmart video has shown that there is absolutely no reason why houses of worship should be closed. If people can safely gather at a Walmart to worship, then it is absurd to suggest that the actual house of worship is any more dangerous.
This is brilliant, a church was not allowed to worship because of buracrats decree so they went to a Walmart to do it pic.twitter.com/nTeqoqPSLE
— Luke Rudkowski (@Lukewearechange) August 6, 2020
This is not the first time worshipers took to Walmart for service. In Holly Springs, Mississippi, the First Pentecostal Church has planned a drive-in Palm Sunday Service, however, weather did not cooperate. Approximately 45 members of the congregation went inside the church to worship while being socially distant.
About halfway through the service, police officers showed up to try to disperse the congregation.
Pastor Jerry Waldrop broke the news saying:
“Well, we have some guests showed up and said we have to disperse. I told them to come in and we’d run y’all off.”
Waldrop did not take this well, and asked his parishioners to go directly to Walmart in order to prove a point that if worship can take place there, it can take place anywhere.
The pastor said:
“When we dismiss here, we’re all going to Walmart and go in,”
He continued:
“I want to prove the point that they’re not enforcing the law.”
As directed, the parishioners headed directly to Walmart, which was crowded with customer. Although they were not disrupting anyone, they were again targeted when the mayor showed up.
Waldrop said:
“The mayor had entered the building and he pulled me aside and said, ‘I need to talk to you.’ I said, ‘Okay.’ He was telling me we couldn’t be in the store.”
Waldrop has said, the mayor insisted the church had broken some protocol by being in the Walmart but couldn’t be specific about which one.
This just further affirms the bias that is taking place across the country in the name of “safety” and “quarantine”. Liquor stores and marijuana shops were deemed essential, but houses of worship were not. It seems as though politicians are using this time to abuse their power in the name of the pandemic.
