Church members receive $500 fine for attending church from their cars

Members of a church in Mississippi each received a $500 fine for sitting in their cars in a parking lot while listening to their church's sermon on the radio Wednesday.

The members had gathered in the parking lot of their church in Greenville, Mississippi, in their own vehicles, to listen to their pastor preach while remaining socially and physically distant from one another.

However, Temple Baptist Church members received citations after the city's mayor, Erick Simmons, issued an executive order the day before, reports the Delta Democrat-Times.

The order requires all church building to be closed for in-person and drive-in church services to limit the spread of the coronavirus. Earlier this month, the state's governor Tate Reeves issued a shelter-in-place order to all citizens, requiring them to stay at home aside from limited allowances stated in the order.

Simmons' order encouraged local churches to communicate with members in new ways. The mayor says the members meeting in the parking lot was a direct defiance of his order.

"We've done these orders for the safety of our citizens," Simmons says.

On social media, Reeves stated that no government has the right to shut down a church.

"All I can do is ask the pastor - man to man - to help us slow the spread," he says.

No government has the right to shut down churches. All I can do is ask the Pastor—man to man—to help us slow the spread. Thank you, Bishop Searcy, for working with us to protect Mississippi. https://t.co/yfLogSdvua

— Tate Reeves (@tatereeves) April 11, 2020

Despite gatherings of 10 or more people having been banned in Greenville for more than three weeks, the mayor says he is still receiving calls about churches still meeting.

"These are people from out of town who are concerned their older parents are still going to these meetings," Simmons says, adding that people have been calling his office "all week" to report churchgoers.

Jeana Lott responded to Reeves' post online. "Not everyone has access to 'online services' like my grandparents from Temple Baptist Church. But they do have access to the radio in THEIR car for service," Lott says in her comment.

Lee Gordan, a member of Temple Baptist Church, says he believed the congregation was obeying the mandate to physically distance by only driving into the church parking lot and remaining in their cars.

Gordon says their windows were rolled up, also. He and his wife were both issued $500 tickets.

"The preacher is in the church at the pulpit and we are streaming the service live as well ... but a lot of our membership is elderly and doesn't have access [to the technology to live stream the service]," says Gordon.

Because the pastor's message is broadcast over a low-power FM frequency radio, members have been meeting in the church parking lot over the past three weeks to hear the sermons.

Gordon says police were respectful and issued citations to those who refused to leave when asked.

"One of the police officers said the mayor wanted to make an example of our church," Pastor Arthur Scott says. "I told them to get some more tickets ready because we will be preaching Sunday morning and Sunday night."

Reeves also addressed the issue in a Facebook post Friday. 

"If you send police after worshippers trying to social distance, you are going to have Mississippians revolt. I've asked all pastors not to hold these services—but we ordered churches safe from these outrageous actions," Reeves wrote.

"Don't trample the Constitution. ‪Please use sense, everybody.‬"