One of North Carolina’s largest churches, World Overcomers Christian Church, says it will not hold in-person services until a vaccine for coronavirus is developed.
“When our people are able to come back together, they’re going to want to greet one another and hug one another, and in my estimation, the risks are too great,” Andy Thompson, senior pastor of the 15,000-member church, told CBS 17. “We have to figure out ways to minister to people beyond just them risking contact in the middle of a pandemic.”
According to The Christian Post, the church pointed to a recent report from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, which showed an increase in clusters of coronavirus cases linked to social gatherings.
The department defines a cluster as the occurrence of five or more epidemiologically linked cases within 14 days of each other.
The report said religious gatherings ranked third on the list of social gatherings potentially creating clusters.
In light of the report, Thompson said World Overcomers Christian Church will continue streaming services online.
“Church for us is just growing. We’ve never had this many people watching,” he said. “I don’t think I’ll ever go back to having church the way I did before.”
Thompson said he worries about other churches that have decided to return to in-person…
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