Another Fresno megachurch will defy California COVID-19 restrictions. Here’s why
After Fresno slid back into California’s Purple Tier of COVID-19 restrictions, Fresno’s faith community responded in varying ways — from continuing to operate in-person to not opening doors at all.
One church that reversed course is The Well Community Church, which will continue to have in-person services. The church previously followed shutdown orders. It has multiple locations throughout Fresno and Clovis and services in both English and Spanish with a congregation of thousands of people.
Lead Pastor Brad Bell said Wednesday in an Instagram IGTV video that church elders felt they needed to support their church congregation’s spiritual and mental health as well as physical health.
“COVID’s not going away, by the way,” he said. “You can’t hide from it. It’s a virus. You’re going to get it eventually.…It’s not if, but when.”
Bell said the church elders had no desire to be rebellious but would continue meeting indoors while requiring masks. People who refuse to wear masks could meet outdoors or tune in to services from home, he said.
In an interview with The Bee on Thursday, Bell said the church isn’t trying to make a political statement. Rather, it’s trying to serve the community as best it can.
Since the church closed in March, church leaders saw people struggle with unemployment, domestic violence, adultery and addiction, he said. Indoor services helped lift people’s spirits in multiple ways.
“We are in the city to love this city and thinking about, what’s the best way to love the city as a church?” he said. “We want to help the whole person, in mental health, relational health, spiritual health as well as physical. So for the isolated, the broken, the lonely, you are welcome to come and join us.”
Bell also noted that indoor services will be no different than crowds at Costco and Home Depot. Indoor services will maybe have a couple hundred people spread between multiple locations. Plus, there will be face masks, sanitizing stations and temperature checks. The outdoor service, which could see a thousand people, will be distanced and also encourage people to wear masks.
The Bee spoke to one churchgoer who, after Bell’s message, decided to pull financial support from the church. The churchgoer, who asked not to be named, lost 12 people to coronavirus who were family or friends and has a relative hospitalized in the intensive care unit with COVID-19.
The churchgoer called the latest statements from Bell hypocritical.
“For Brad to make a false claim that we can’t avoid COVID-19 and we are all going to get it is blatantly false,” the churchgoer said. “In addition, when the first shut down happened, Brad rightly asserted that Biblically, we are called to submit to authority. The change of action now and trying to Biblically justify a reversal is hypocritical. These are types of actions that have pushed my generation (xenenials) along with the younger generations away from the evangelical church.”
The churchgoer pays regular tithes as well as an ongoing financial pledge earmarked for new church infrastructure and nonprofit organizations.
If The Well reverses its decision to continue indoor services, the churchgoer said he will continue his financial support.
Bell said the church won’t make decisions based on financial support. “That’s between he and the Lord,” Bell said about the churchgoer.
Other churches, places of worship
The Well is not the first Fresno megachurch to defy coronavirus regulations and not the only one continuing indoor services after Fresno slid back into the purple tier.
Peoples Church also is continuing indoor services and “firmly” asking its congregation to wear masks, according to its website, which quoted the apostle Paul: “I become all things to all men to win some.”
Cornerstone Church also made headlines earlier this year for defying the governor’s orders and holding indoor services.
The Islamic Cultural Center of Fresno, located across the street from one campus of The Well, has taken a starkly different approach to COVID-19.
ICCF closed and stopped offering in-person prayer 10 days before the city of Fresno issued its shelter-in-place order and before California issued its own order in early March, said Executive Director Reza Nekumanesh.
“We have a large immigrant population and were already watching what was going on back home for us, knowing we were going to have to react quickly,” Nekumanesh said. “To keep people safe, we decided to close. Since then, we have not opened and have continued with online programming.”
Nekumanesh said the center has hosted drive-thru celebrations and continued with food delivery to continue engaging the community.
“We believe as shepherds and stewards of our community, the first thing we think about is how do we keep people safe,” he said. “In addition to that, we also believe that it should be our role to set that example, so that way if you see that we’re not gathering, you and your family should also be safe and not go to big gatherings. We obviously see there are countless examples that if a community leader show that they are aloof to the safety measures one should take, there’s definitely a trickle down where people also get in the habit about not worrying about those safety measures.”
On the other side of town, Pastor Paul Binion of Westside Church of God also encouraged his congregation in a Facebook video to practice good hand washing, wear masks and not to socialize. The doors to that church remain closed as well.
“Westside, we’re intelligent people, are we not?,” he said. “We love God, and also the Bible tells us, we preach the Gospel, we disciple people, we engage in the community, but we’re good citizens, too. So make sure we’re doing the things to help protect us.”