Oregon church won't close after COVID-19 outbreak infected 74 members, pastor says

After a COVID-19 outbreak at Peoples Church in Salem, Oregon, that left 74 people infected, the pastor says he will keep the doors open.

Returning to the pulpit after a COVID-19 outbreak infected him, his wife and 72 members of their congregation, the senior pastor of an Oregon church said Sunday that he will not kowtow to pressure to close the doors to the house of worship. Pastor Scott Erickson of the Peoples Church in Salem, Oregon, began his Mother's Day sermon by addressing the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in his church and throughout the state. “In the last several days, it is apparent that voices in our community and region want the church of Jesus Christ to be quiet and to be closed," Erickson told those in attendance at the church and others watching a livestream online broadcast. “Not us, not here, not now. That’s not what we’re doing." Peoples Church was among 10 churches in Oregon that joined together to file a lawsuit in May 2020 asking the Baker County Circuit Court to issue a temporary restraining order blocking Oregon Gov. Kate Brown from enforcing stay-at-home executive regulations against churches. The lawsuit argued that Brown's restrictions on churches violated constitutional protections for religious freedom.