My church is not gathering for in-person worship, in excess of state mandates, to keep us all safe. It’s a blessing that our pastor cares about our whole being, spiritual and physical.

Some of the earliest superspreader events in the US were associated with churches (eg https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6919e6.htm) and actually were hugely instructive in understanding conditions that lead to transmission

When I think of who the avid church goers are - elderly folks, like my parents, who had a hard time letting go of church as they had never missed a week in nearly 50 years - it seems particularly important to protect these communities.

Worship may be treated differently than shopping because worship is not like shopping, unless you go to one of those groceries where you gather in rows and sing for an hour before you can purchase milk.

I am still learning a lot about how committed Americans are to the right to acquire a deadly virus. But from my dual perspective as a public health expert and devout religious person, I don’t feel targeted in a negative way by guidelines around worship: I feel cared for.

I have spoken.