Churches should partner with government officials to fight the spread of the coronavirus while receiving First Amendment protections as they cooperate, the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission said in a July 10 statement.
The ERLC has issued a document that provides guidance to church and civic leaders regarding the effort to protect public health, particularly through the process known as contact tracing. In the procedure, trained workers contact people who may have been exposed to COVID-19 so those potentially infected individuals can isolate from others and thereby prevent the spread of the virus.
The ERLC’s “Statement of Principles of Church-Civic Partnership on Contact Tracing” was released as COVID-19 cases are increasing in many states after periods of decline. Most churches and other religious bodies have returned to in-person, corporate worship after abiding by government restrictions that prevented such gatherings during the first several weeks of the pandemic. The return to in-person meetings offers the potential for exposure to people with the virus, even when churches implement such measures as social distancing and the wearing of masks.
“Contact tracing could be the next tension point between church leaders and civic leaders, but it doesn’t have to be so,” said Brent Leatherwood, a statement co-author and ERLC chief of staff. “We thought it was important to provide a framework for leaders in both spheres to consider how it could be done in a way that respects the roles and duties that church and state play in serving their communities during this crisis.”
Acting as partners with government to fight the virus is a means for churches to follow the biblical directives to pursue the welfare of their cities and to practice love for neighbors, according to the ERLC statement. Church and civic leaders have “unique, complementary roles” in combating COVID-19, and pastors should initiate relationships with local officials to foster communication and the sharing of information, the ERLC said.