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I am a pastor of a medium-size Baptist church in Jersey Shore. I led our church to an immensely unpopular decision to comply with the Pennsylvania Secretary of Health's July 1 order requiring the wearing of masks. I write this letter to express that, although we are complying with the order as a matter of obedience to duly appointed government authority, it is under protest.
We protest the order because, while I am sure it is well-intentioned, a one-size-fits-all solution is not realistic. Why, for example, must I require members of my congregation to participate in worship, which includes singing, to wear a mask while they are allowed to remove it at the restaurant after the service is over? An exception is made for obvious reasons at the restaurant, but not for churches? And yes, we asked the Department of Health directly about worship services, and no exceptions were offered.
We protest the order because it has had quantifiable, deleterious effects on our worship as a congregation. I will give three examples. First, comparing 2019 to 2020, our average monthly attendance for the month of June dropped 41 percent (I won't mention March-May). July is looking even worse. Can we attribute this to anything other than the mask mandate? Perhaps. But the reality is that our attendance from June 28 to July 5 (the Sunday before and after the mandate) dropped almost 30 percent from the already meager recovery we were seeing as people started to venture back out to church. That is not a coincidence.
Second, giving, which is an important act of worship, is down. Comparing year-to-year numbers from 2019 to 2020 shows a decrease of 22.95 percent. This is a smaller drop than the actual attendance numbers, which is a credit to the faithfulness and maturity of the giving members of the congregation. Will this commitment be sustainable as this mask mandate has no expiration? Is this typical of other churches? I can't say.
Third, the mandate has curtailed our engagement with our community. I can give a very specific example. One of the largest events that we host each year is Vacation Bible School. We routinely have 120 children from the area visit us for at least a portion of our five-day event. We postponed from our typical June timeframe this year due to the lockdown and trying to get our feet back under us. We were planning for an abbreviated three-day event at the end of July. When the mask mandate came down, we were faced with disobeying the mask mandate and encouraging others to do the same or becoming "mask police," something we truthfully have zero interest in doing. We were left with no choice.
We also protest the order because it is not anchored in undisputed science. For every study that says masks help, another can be found that says they harm. What further complicates things for those who desire to act wisely is that politics has infected every aspect of this discussion. Elected leaders looking at the same evidence have responded in ways that break down along party lines. That does not help the average citizen trust that the decisions are being made in the best interest of the public.
To our Governor and to the Secretary of Health, please know that I am praying for you. This is an unprecedented time we live in. You need wisdom as you make decisions that affect so many! We submit to this order, under protest, as a matter of worship before God because He has told us to (Romans 13:1-7). You have made a decision, and as far as we can submit to it without disobeying God, we will (Gov. Newsom's singing ban in California is an example of going too far).
Please also know as a citizen of the Commonwealth, I will engage in the processes afforded to me in our system of government. I call on my elected representatives, state Sen. Gene Yaw and Rep. Garth Everett, to actively speak to my concerns in Harrisburg. And I will absolutely head to the ballot box in November.
I hope this letter communicates clearly my desire to be a law-abiding citizen while also sharing the very real harm that the mask mandate is inflicting on my congregation in spite of the good intentions I sincerely hope lie behind it.
RYAN SCHILDROTH
Associate Pastor
Calvary Baptist Church
Submitted via Virtual Newsroom