Good News - April 2021

COVER STORY 26 APRIL 2021 www.goodnewsfl.org Good News • South Florida Edition A year after stay-at-home orders shut down en- tire communities in an effort to stem the spread of COVID-19, churches in parts of the nation are still fighting to open. Yet Florida churches have mostly re- mained open, online and in person, thanks to the leadership of Governor Ron DeSantis. Early on De- Santis declared “attending religious services con- ducted in churches, synagogues and houses of worship” as essential activity, a move that super- seded county and municipal ordinances, raising the ire of some local officials. His office held state-wide Zoom calls with church leaders through his Faith and Community-Based Initiative providing guidance dur- ing the pandemic, and in January, Governor DeSantis directed the Florida Division of Emergency Manage- ment to identify places of worship and other locations in underserved communities where the vaccine may be administered. Since then, the state has worked with hundreds of churches to administer the vaccine including New Mount Olive Baptist Church and Mount Herman AME Church in Fort Lauderdale. “Governor DeSantis designated religious services as an essential activity be- cause he believes that government does not and should not have the authority to close religious institutions. The Governor trusted religious leaders to do what was best for their organizations and communities by providing their congregations the ability to practice their faith while keeping themselves and others safe,” said Cody McCloud , the Governor’s Press Secretary. And local faith leaders have taken notice. “We are so grateful and proud of the leadership of Governor DeSantis,” said Mario Bramnick , Senior Pastor of NewWine Ministry Church and founder of the South Florida Pastor’s Network. “From the beginning he designated churches as essential services and understood that by constitutional mandate he had no right to come against the churches and our right to assemble and worship. This is in direct contrast to California Governor Newsom, who literally targeted churches’ First Amendment right to worship, and said they can’t sing in California. Direct assault to the church. There were churches there, Pastor Che Ahn (of Harvest Rock Church in Pasedena, CA) was one of them that led the fight and are still fighting. They had the case in the Supreme Court argued by Matt Staver. They sued the governor and they prevailed. Unfortunately they are only allowed to meet up to 25 percent of the sanctuary. It’s still not even based on science. And what we’re seeing even in New York with Governor Cuomo targeting synagogues and churches specifically and Mayor de Blasio – there’s obvious disdain with some of the progressive, leftist leadership against the church, and there’s no question about the prejudicial targeting. So in context of that overall atmosphere in our nation, for Governor DeSantis to take a strong lead in protecting our First Amendment right to assemble and religious liberty is phenomenal.” The First Amendment Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church Pastor Rob Pacienza , said, “Our church opened fairly early (in mid-June, 2020) compared to other churches not just in our area but around the country. I think the governor’s leadership and declaring churches as essential was really critical for us to make that decision and for giving our people and our volunteers confidence.” “The governor has proven himself over and over again to be a staunch de- fender of the first amendment and how that applies to churches and people of faith in particular, so we couldn’t be more pleased with his leadership in that area and his leadership throughout the pandemic” added Pacienza, who has ex- pressed concern over the “cancel culture.” As a member of the Broward leadership team for Church United , Pacienza was a part of the conver- sations with the governor’s Faith and Community- Based Initiative and said, “They were very helpful. When we started hearing the talking points coming out of the governor’s office, I think that gave us a sense of confidence that he’s behind us.” Doug Sauder , Senior Pastor of Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale and a member of the Church United Leadership team agreed. “I think that Governor De- Santis has been proactive in being an advocate for churches and that’s something that I deeply appreci- ate. His faith-based liaison Erik Dellenbac k reached out to us early and asked our thoughts, asked us how he could support us, how we could keep our churches safe to keep them open. That was just great dialogue, and in particular, I love the governor’s passion for fos- ter care and mental health issues – the social issues of our world – because the church isn’t just supposed to be open for worship. We’re supposed to be active in the community, and I think his office is providing some good onramps for us to become more deeply involved in social welfare, social services of the state. So we’ve been strongly encouraged by this support, and when I talk to pastors around the country, we’re not dealing with some of the mandates and issues that maybe treat churches differently than other places of business. So there’s a level of trust there that’s been very helpful.” Vaccination Sites When it comes to vaccinations, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church was ap- proached for consideration as a site, but due to the restrictions of their school, Pacienza said, “We were logistically unable to pull it off, but I think it’s a phe- nomenal role for the church. Any chance in which we can be a light to the com- munity - I’m a big believer in what the prophet calls us to do in Jeremiah 29, seeking the peace and prosperity of the city, for if they flourish we’ll flourish, so anything we can do for the common good of all people is always a win for the city and for the people of God.” Having worked together with state representatives to have a church identified as a vaccination site, Dr. Rosalind Osgood , CEO of the Mount Olive Develop- ment Corporation, said, “Mount Herman AME Church in partnership with New Mount Olive worked to organize 25 churches so that we could ensure that the minorities in the area and surrounging areas have easy access to the vaccinations and those churches. Each church took the responsibility of registering people for the vaccines, completing all the necessary paperwork, scheduling the appoint- ments so that those individuals could receive VIP service when they went for their shots, and we’ve had wonderful experiences each time where no person was there longer than an hour.” Through this collaborative effort, Dr. Marcus Davidson , Pastor of New Mount Olive Baptist Church, said, “We have had a significant amount of people get vac- cinated, but I think if we had a more systematic approach, we could get more people vaccinated within our community and particularly black and brown people who have a lot of trepidation about it… I truly believe if we had more vaccination sites working through churches, particularly African American churches, there is something unique about them trusting the process.” Asked how he felt about the Governor’s leadership overall, Davidson said, “I think the governor has done some things that were good, but I think that some of his decisions have not necessarily been in the best interest of the people. His lackadaisical approach to some of the things early on could have prevented maybe the escalation of some cases… And I get the challenges that we’ve had FloridaGovernor RonDeSantisWorksWith Churches Throughout The Pandemic Shelly Pond Good News Editor Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Photo courtesy of the Governor's Office.