(RNS) — The Rev. Jim West was feeling terrified as the state of Tennessee — and the church he pastors there — prepared to reopen after a month under stay-at-home orders.
But he was also looking forward to it.
“I just hope everything goes okay and nobody gets sick because that would be a nightmare,” he said on Tuesday afternoon (April 28).
West’s church — Petros Baptist Church in Petros, Tennessee — planned to reopen in phases in May, starting with Wednesday night adult Bible study, which West called its “least occupied service” and resuming Sunday services, usually attended by about 120 people, on Mother’s Day, with social distancing guidelines in place.
One church member had made hundreds of masks with “religious themes” for people to use, according to the pastor.
West submitted the reopening plan to his church leaders and to health officials in Morgan County, which has had fewer than 10 reported cases of COVID-19, according to the Tennessee Department of Health.
Then everything changed.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed an executive order later on Tuesday that allows many businesses across the state to reopen but “strongly encouraged” houses of worship to continue virtual services.
West wrote Wednesday on the church website he was “gutted” to share the news the church now likely wouldn’t be reopening until June.
“I was really…
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