Coronavirus News: Kentucky Church Defies Order Against In-Person Gatherings For Easter

A church in Kentucky was met with police presence as it chose to push through with Easter Sunday (April 12) service despite the governor's orders to avoid in-person mass gatherings. Despite the police efforts, some of the churchgoers still noted they will not do the required 14-day quarantine after the gathering.

On Sunday morning, pastor Rev. Jack Roberts arrived at the Maryville Baptist Church to see piles of nails dumped at the church entrances to the parking lot, likely in an effort to prevent churchgoers from entering. It was unclear who placed the nails, but they were eventually removed by volunteers by the time the worshippers arrived.

Many, including Roberts, arrived at the church with their car plates covered after police warned they will be recording the car plates of those who would defy the order. Even though their car plates were covered, police recorded their VIN numbers and their vehicles were left with notices on the windshield.

Those who received the notice will not be charged with anything, but will receive a letter asking everyone in their household to self quarantine for the next 14 days. However, according to the Courier Journal, several worshippers stated as they were leaving that they had no intention of abiding by the quarantine notice.

The incident at Maryville Baptist Church came after Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear enforced an order against in-person services last Friday (April 10), in response to reports of several churches planning to push through with Easter services. This likely included Maryville, which was also served with a state-backed order from the Bullitt County Health Department to "immediately" stop in-person gatherings earlier in the week, something the church defied by Wednesday evening.

According to Sgt. Josh Lawson of Kentucky State Police, they received up to five complaints about church services Sunday, but only Maryville defied in-person services. The other reports were of outdoor gatherings wherein the people remained in their cars and simply listened to the service via an outdoor speaker. In those other cases, the people who attended were not given any notices.

"Those that want to have mass gatherings send out a signal all around the country to those that don't think this virus is serious, that don't follow the rules and then want to come to a place to make their point," Beshear said on Sunday.