"There’s hand sanitizer in every pew," one attendee said about having in-person worship services at Maryville Baptist Church on Easter Sunday. Louisville Courier Journal A federal judge ruled Friday that Tabernacle Baptist Church in Nicholasville, Kentucky, — and churches all around the commonwealth — may hold in-person services Sunday despite the coronavirus pandemic. Tabernacle won a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of Gov. Andy Beshear’s order barring in-person church services to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Beshear’s order bars also mass gatherings of more than 10 people. "Defendants are enjoined from enforcing the prohibition on mass gatherings with respect to any in-person religious service which adheres to applicable social distancing and hygiene guidelines," U.S. District Judge Greg Van Tatenhove ruled Friday evening. The effect of the order is limited: Beshear has said he will lift the ban on church gatherings May 20, although attendance will be limited to follow social gathering guidelines. Two other federal judges in Kentucky — David Hale of Louisville and William Bertelsman of Covington — had previously ruled that the ban on in-person church services was constitutional. But after the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case back to Hale, he also issued […]
