Local reverend responds to President Trump's church announcement

Local reverend responds to President Trump's church announcement

With the president calling for churches to reopen, one local reverend is reacting.

The president calling for churches to reopen..

One local reverend is reacting.

Action news now reporter kristian lopez is live at st.

John the evangelist episcopal church in chico..

Kristian are they planning on reopening this sunday?

The reverend told me there is still a lot to do before he believes his congregation can come together safely.... today president trump deemed churches and houses of worship "essential and is calling for them to reopen this weekend despite the threat of the coronavirus.

But -- this goes against governor newsom's four stage reopening plan.

California is currently in phase two and church gatherings are not permitted.

In-person religious services are part of phase three... reverend richard yale says despite the mixed messages from our leaders they still have no plans to reopen yet.

Our question is have we done our due diligence to make sure we can safeguard our people in our community and our most vulnerable.

I must say it's a complex number of things that must happen to make our congregation safe and we are not yet and we cannot open until we are sure we are doing the best for our most vulnerable and our parishioners president trump says if governors don't abide by his request he will override them.

It's still unclear if he has the authorityto do so.

Reverend yale saysuntil they are ready to reopen-- they will continue holding virtual church services.

Live in chico kristian lopez action news now coverage you can count on.

The c-d-c released guidance for places of worship saying, 'religious institutions should provide soap and hand sanitizer, encourage the use of cloth masks and clean their facilities daily."

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