Northwest Bible Baptist To Reopen For In-Person Sunday Services

ELGIN, IL — In a recent letter to Gov. J.B. Pritzker, attorneys for Northwest Bible Baptist Church in Elgin announced their plan to reopen Sunday for services, despite the state's recently extended stay-at-home order.

On May 1, a letter from First Liberty Institute was sent to Pritzker on behalf of the church, notifying him that the church will "immediately" resume in-person services on May 17, "while implementing strict health and safety protocols."

NWBBC said in a news release that it leads a coalition of nearly 50 churches from across the state and plans to implement strict health and safety protocols while holding the in-person services.

"Churches are more than a place of fellowship, it is an identifiable assembly of believers in Jesus Christ,” Keith Gomez, pastor of NWBBC said, in the news release. “We are grateful for the guidance our government has provided through this pandemic and have respectfully refrained from gathering for weeks. However, we are persuaded that now is the time to safely resume meeting together in-person.”

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The strict health and safety guidelines the churches plan to implement include "encouraging those sixty-five and older or in at risk categories to stay home and participate via live stream, requiring the use of personal protection equipment (“PPE”), scanning those entering for a fever with non-touch thermometers by screeners wearing appropriate PPE, separating the seating of non-family units by a minimum of six (6) feet, only seating individuals every other row for front to back spacing throughout the main floor and balcony of the worship space, and more."

Illinois has prevented in-person religious services for roughly five weeks during the coronavirus outbreak, leading NWBBC to respond by shifting to virtual or drive-in church services, according to the news release, adding that NWBBC was forced by law enforcement to resume virtual services instead of in-person ones.

“Churches across Illinois and the nation have respectfully submitted to governmental restrictions on social gatherings throughout the pandemic,” said Jeremy Dys, First Liberty Institute's special counsel for litigation and communications, in the news release. “NWBBC is grateful for government officials who have worked to protect citizens but now believes it is time to begin responsibly returning to in-person services immediately.”

According to the news release, NWBBC believes it has a "religious obligation" to meet in person and that it questions the authority of the state when it comes to directing the church to do otherwise.

Patch will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.

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