Two federal judges in separate cases issued orders Friday evening halting a ban on in-person church services contained in an executive order issued by Gov. Andy Beshear due to the coronavirus pandemic. At U. S. District Court in Frankfort, Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove issued a temporary restraining order sought by Tabernacle Baptist Church of Nicholasville. The church had been conducting services on Facebook and by drive-in services, but maintained in their arguments, “Tabernacle has a sincerely-held religious belief that online services and drive-in services do not meet the Lord’s requirement that the church meet together in person for corporate worship.” Federal courts issued orders that churches can have in-person services (Stock photo from Kentucky Today) In his 13-page ruling, Van Tatenhove stated, “They want to freely exercise their deeply held religious belief about what it means to be a faithful Christian. For them, it is ‘essential’ that they do so. And they want to invoke the Constitution’s protection on this point. But the governor, by executive order, has put a stop to that. “He can do that, but he must have a compelling reason for using his authority to limit a citizen’s right to freely exercise something we value […]
