Charlotte United House of Prayer cleared to reopen after COVID-19 outbreak

Mecklenburg County health officials agreed Friday to ease a forced shutdown of a church in Charlotte that now has 181 coronavirus cases, at least six deaths and a nursing home outbreak connected to events the church held in October.

Also on Friday, 35 new COVID-19 cases and one additional fatality were reported as part of the church outbreak.

The United House of Prayer for All People was forbidden last weekend from holding in-person gatherings at all church buildings after convocation events this month fueled the county’s largest COVID-19 outbreak to date. The organization has multiple locations in Charlotte, including its local flagship location at 2321 Beatties Ford Road, where those gatherings were held.

For only the third time in her career, Mecklenburg Public Health Director Gibbie Harris issued what’s known as an order of abatement of imminent hazard. Public health and First Amendment experts who spoke with the Observer this week said public health authorities are within their right to use such orders as long as they are applied to organizations regardless of affiliation.

County officials have said church leaders initially failed to comply with public health protocols and refused to help contract tracers identify who attended church events, which hobbled investigators from potentially containing viral spread.

On Friday, in their first public comments since the outbreak, church leaders praised the county’s decision in a statement and said they were “excited and thankful to be able worship the Lord and do so together.”

The modified order, effective immediately, will allow nearly a dozen House of Prayer locations in Mecklenburg County to reopen with capacity limits, ranging from 25 people in one location up to 300 in the sanctuary at its flagship Beatties Ford Road location. Harris said public health staff visited the flagship location and cleared it to reopen, but have heard church leaders will keep that complex closed through Nov. 5.

Harris said transmission of the virus directly linked to the events from nearly three weeks ago has slowed. Most new cases tied to the church now involve secondhand spread, she said.

The Observer first reported Thursday that County Manager Dena Diorio informed Mecklenburg commissioners that the order would be modified if church leaders showed they had taken the recommended safety steps and encouraged those practices to members. The new order is in effect through Thursday.

’Continued cooperation’

During recent site inspections, county health officials observed pews blocked off for social distancing, hand sanitizer and other measures to discourage spread, according to the modified order.

Church leaders also sent a message to members encouraging them to wear face masks, practice social distancing and stay home if they feel sick, the order stated.

“UHOP holds services seven days per week and they believe that the order is an overreach,” Diorio wrote in an email to commissioners, county administrators and the county attorney on Wednesday. “We believe that this settlement avoids potential litigation, addresses our concerns regarding the recent outbreak and avoids further infection.”

Diorio also wrote that another order could be issued if the church prompted more public health concerns. Harris signed the modified document Friday morning.

“The United House of Prayer has expressed its commitment to continued cooperation with Public Health to identify and implement safety measures to protect against the spread of COVID-19,” the modified order reads.

Though county officials had earlier characterized church leaders as uncooperative, Harris said Friday that church leaders have been cooperating with public health.

”We have found that the pastors and the staff at all of those (United House of Prayer) sites have been very responsive, engaged and willing to work with us,” she said.

Church’s response

Apostle Ronnie White, pastor of the church at 2321 Beatties Ford Road, in a statement released by church attorneys, called the county’s latest actions a positive outcome for “religious freedom and expression.

“Not being able to attend services and join with the community in the worship of the Lord was distressing to our members, especially in these difficult times,” White said. “Daily services are fundamental to our beliefs, and this result preserves our right to worship God together as a community in the manner that is sacred and meaningful to us.”

White said the church would “have no difficulty following the advice” from health officials, including wearing masks and social distancing. He said safety measures already had been in place and the group had held worship services safely before the outbreak.

Joshua Davey, an attorney representing the church, said county officials’ decision to close all 11 House of Prayer locations in the county, rather than just the Beatties Ford site where the outbreak was centered, was “overbroad.”

“The County can take measures to combat the spread of COVID-19, but those actions cannot be overbroad, and the County cannot substantially shut down an entire religious denomination, as the Abatement Order did here,” he wrote.

While the state’s mass gathering limits during the pandemic have exemptions for worship, political events, protests and other First Amendment activities, the abatement order outlined in state law has no such exemptions.

Religious gatherings in NC

Of the 181 known cases linked to the church events, most involve Mecklenburg County residents. And there have been four infections in Iredell County, four in Gaston County and one in Cabarrus County.

At least 10 people have required hospital-level care, county officials say. Of the known fatalities, five were among Mecklenburg residents and the sixth in Gaston County.

Mecklenburg Public Health “attempted to contact at least 262 close contacts of confirmed cases,” officials said.

It is unclear how many cases were contracted among out-of-state guests, Harris said. But Public Health has notified local health departments in California, Georgia, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina and Washington, D.C.

Across North Carolina, religious gatherings have been linked to 88 COVID-19 clusters, with 1,180 cases, according to state data. But Harris said many religious communities in Mecklenburg have taken significant steps to provide safe environments during the pandemic.

“This is a difficult time for everybody, and many people depend on their faith for that kind of support,” Harris said. “We want to be able to provide those safe environments for worship in our community, and are just really pleased the (United House of Prayer for All People) is working collaboratively with us now.”

This story was originally published October 30, 2020 at 1:21 PM.