Gavin Newsom to resume church services in California with restrictions

California will allow churches and other houses of worship to reopen at up either 25% capacity or 100 attendees during the coronavirus pandemic, the state announced Monday, though local county authorities still have final approval over whether to allow it within their jurisdiction.

The decision comes just before next Sunday’s Pentecost, a major day in the Christian calendar, when thousands of pastors had vowed to defy Gov. Gavin Newsom’s shutdown order.

Most states had allowed exemptions for religious services during the pandemic, though with restrictions. Mr. Newsom’s shutdown order made no such allowance, and had said houses of worship would be delayed until phase three of reopening plans.

But Dr. Sonia Angell, director of California’s Public Health Department, said Monday the state has made enough progress in cutting the rate of COVID-19 infections to speed things up — though she said caution is still needed.

“As more of us may be leaving our homes, keeping physical distance, wearing face coverings in public, and washing your hands frequently are more important than ever to help protect yourself and those around you,” she said.

Under the new rules, houses of worship must have a plan for how they’ll handle reopening, must have strict guidelines on physical distance, must encourage masks, and must monitor compliance with the plan.

Attendance limited to a maximum of 100 people, and if the establishment holds fewer than 400 people anyway, it’s limited to a quarter of its usual numbers.

Singing is discouraged because of the “dramatically increased risk of COVID-19 transmission,” and those establishments that do allow choirs are strongly urged to have them all use masks.

Retail establishments are also allowed to restart in-store sales, also subject to county approval.

California’s ban on in-person religious services had been in place since March 19.

It spawned a number of legal challenges and drew scrutiny of the federal Justice Department, which last week warned Mr. Newsom that he was trampling on the free exercise of religion by barring churches while allowing some other establishments to open.

Federal courts generally sided with the governor, including the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which in a 2-1 decision said that because the state didn’t target churches because of anti-religious motivations, and because the rules burdened more than just churches, they were allowed.

The court approvingly cited a 1949 Supreme Court opinion that said constitutional rights needed to be balanced with “a little practical wisdom” or else it would become “a suicide pact.”

The two judges who ruled against churches were appointees of Democratic presidents. A Trump appointee, Judge Daniel P. Collins, dissented, saying the state should have made more of an effort to accommodate religion.

In that, he agreed with another appeals court that allowed churches to reopen in Kentucky.

The Justice Department has argued that states that allow commercial activity must allow religious establishments at least that same level of activity. Otherwise, a core First Amendment right would be restricted more than a commercial right, federal lawyers said.

President Trump last week also announced he was declaring churches, synagogues and mosques to be “essential” during coronavirus — though it’s not clear that declaration has any effect on states, which have not always followed previous federal guidance on essential services during the pandemic.

Mr. Trump did order the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to announce guidelines for how houses of worship could reopen.

California said it would reevaluate how churches are doing in 21 days — enough time for a round of weekly services, as well as the 14-day maximum incubation period for COVID-19.