Pastor Blames Church Closing on ‘Tyrannical Government’

A Confusing Executive Order 

There has been some confusion regarding the actual application of DeSantis’s new order that classifies church services as essential. Hours before signing that order Wednesday, the governor issued a state-wide stay-at-home order that instructs people to stay inside their homes except for “essential services” or “essential activities.” Many people were already following these guidelines because of orders from their local governments. 

The second order defining churches as “essential,” which DeSantis signed the same day, seems to say it overrides the directives already issued by local authorities: “This Order shall supersede any conflicting official action or order issued by local officials in response to COVID-19 but only to the extent that such action or order allows essential services or essential activities prohibited by this Executive Order.” 

The Tampa Bay Times reports that DeSantis later seemed to contradict those words when he said, “If (local governments) want to do more, they can do more in certain situations,” but he did not clarify what he meant by that. To make the issue more confusing, the governor was very public about issuing the statewide stay-at-home order, but made no announcement about the second. 

Andrew Warren says it is not clear now whether churches such as The River may or may not legally hold services. He said, “This has created a lot of confusion. For reasons I can’t fathom, the governor is using his power to remove safe guards that Hillsborough County and other counties have put in place to save lives.”