Cornerstone Church to defy state, exceed 100-person limit despite Supreme Court ruling

Pastor Jim Franklin said Cornerstone Church in Fresno would be open for two services Sunday at 25% capacity, inviting up to 350 people in defiance of state-imposed limits that were upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The South Bay United Pentecostal Church in Chula Vista, represented by the Thomas More Society, had argued to the high court that state restrictions limiting the number of people who can attend a church service violate constitutional guarantees of religious freedom.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday the reopening of churches, but limited services to 25% capacity or 100 people, whichever is lower.

The court late Friday, in a 5-4 decision, rejected the emergency appeal of Newsom’s order.

At the 1,400-seat Cornerstone Church on Saturday, where Franklin held a news conference, seats were set up for services at the 25% level or about 350 people. The remaining seats in the theater were marked off with signs stating, “In order to maintain social distance please do not sit in this chair.”

Franklin said the church at Fulton and Stanislaus streets in downtown Fresno had preregistered attendees and services at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. were full. The church also will continue to stream services online and encourage those 65 and older or who have a compromised immune system or other underlying health problems not to attend.

“You will see each seat that has been marked with a piece of paper to show that people will not be sitting in those seats,” Franklin said. “You can see, then, the number of seats that will be empty (Sunday). You can see the social distancing that will be in this place. People will be kept safe. We will operate all of the social distancing protocols that we have mentioned earlier.”

Franklin already had vowed Wednesday that he would defy the order.

“We believe that the order is unconstitutional,” he said. “We believe that they place restrictions upon churches that they have not placed upon anyone else. That’s what the four dissenting Supreme Court justices said.

“Restaurants opened at 50%. You saw when Fashion Fair Mall opened, the crowd that was in there, far more than what we’ll have here on Sunday. Why are they safe at Fashion Fair Mall, but they’re not safe here at church?”