'Potentially a super-spreader event': Neighbors complain about worship services held in Glasgow home | The Latest from WDEL News | wdel.com

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Newly elected State Representative Eric Morrison (D-District 27)

Greg Tweddell, pastor of the Fire Church

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Twice a week, cars line up on a residential street in the Bay Pointe neighborhood of Glasgow for worship. It has been happening for years-complained by neighbors-but COVID-19 has made those who criticize it more outspoken.

National Rep. Elect Eric Morrison (D-District No. 27) said that voters contacted him about this matter, which violated the county code. Therefore, he personally went to see the inside of the house in the 600th block of the Channel Court.

"This may be a super promotion twice a week."

He said: "I walked in with a mask. No one was wearing a mask, and there was no distance between people. The setting was basically in their living room, and they were folded side by side chairs." "It's like a whole The church was built... they have a whole set of musical instruments, microphones, projectors, and they are being recorded; they have professional lighting, so they are there."

Greg Tweddell, the pastor of the Fire Church, said it was wrong to say that the concentrate was packaged "like sardines."

He said: "On the main floor, we often have about 35 people in an open layout, covering more than 2,000 square feet, the oldest person upstairs, because this is a balcony overlooking my mission area. "

Morrison said that the participants in the church service include the elderly and babies.

"I walked in and the missionary actually stopped and said, "Oh, hey, welcome. Are you not a state health inspector?" Everyone laughed. So, for me, it shows that they are The degree of attention to the epidemic."

Current public health guidelines limit the number of people in private gatherings to 10 people, but Governor John Carney pointed out that the state relies mainly on voluntary compliance. In the past, he said that officers would not knock on doors to impose restrictions. In Newark, the police restricted such gatherings within the city and listed the participants.

"I sit there and think twice a week, there are 30, 40, 50 people respectively-I counted 30 cars on the day I was there... You have 2 people per car on average, which is 60 people... . Come in, no masks, no social distancing, every one of these people return to the community, they will go to work; go to family; go shopping; to do all the things we do, and I think they are obviously not taking it seriously This pandemic, so I can't imagine what they are doing outside the church to spread the disease further," Morrison said. Said. "This may be a super-spreader event twice a week. This is currently unacceptable."

A relevant member of the Voluntary Maintenance Committee spoke to WDEL on condition of anonymity and has been fighting this issue for many years.

He said: "I myself have not been able to go to church since March. I can attend the Zoom meeting, but my church may not be closed until April or May." "We are not against the church ourselves, what we are opposed to is The owner of the house who allowed this to happen."

According to the public records of New Castle County, although there is no public COVID-19 outbreak related to church services, according to public records of New Castle County, the owner of the house where the church services were held, Colin Twedel, died of pneumonia and accompanied him. There are complications of COVID-19.

.

The county spokesperson said the homeowner was originally cited in February 2020.

"The violation was for institutional use on residential property without permission. This case is currently undergoing legal review," said Newcastle County spokesperson Brian Cunningham. 

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Health confirmed to WDEL that they have received a complaint about the service of the Fire Church. Since the beginning of the pandemic, DPH has received more than 4,000 complaints about COVID-19 compliance issues, although not all have led to site visits or investigations.

Jim Lee said: "Since this investigation is still ongoing, we currently have no other information to share."

The head of health system protection, Jamie Mack, said in an email from WDEL to neighbors on December 14, 2020:

"Challenges range from private homes to businesses, to employee safety hazards to the rights of the First Amendment. During the pandemic, the chapel has been given the freedom to perform its functions, and this is no exception. A warning letter will be issued today for this. , If the infringement continues, we will continue to cooperate with the NCC and other agencies."

To date, no administrative penalties have been assessed

DPH report.

The New Castle County Police also visited the property after being complained on December 20, 2020 (Sunday). Mike Eckerd told WDEL that no citations were published.

Tweddell said the officer asked him that he had received a warning letter from DPH. He said he didn't, and got a copy.

Pastor Tver stated in an email to WDEL that the use of places of worship is illegal.

"According to county regulations, it is illegal to receive guests at home on a regular basis (whether for worship, dinner with a large family, or a football game on Monday night). Worshiping and receiving guests has always been the'traditional residential purpose of single-family homes in the United States' '. Guests meeting at home will not interfere with traffic or neighbors’ use of their own property. We have always been concerned about neighbors’ concerns. The right to freedom of association, worship, and religion are protected by the First Amendment. The existence of COVID cannot prove or The destruction of personal, economic and religious freedom is allowed. The term "church" does not only mean "church building." "Church" is mainly a group of believers who meet regularly."

Tweedell added that he was concerned about Morrison's "false" and "misleading claims."

"Such words could have serious consequences: after government officials made similar tepid speeches, a church building in Mississippi was burned down earlier this year. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected this trivial and Instigate to find Governor Andrew Cuomo’s attack on religion. Rally in this case is unconstitutional 

 with 

," He said.

Delaware Governor John Carney’s coronavirus restrictions were challenged by Dr. Christopher Bullock, the pastor of the New Castle District of the Canaan Baptist Church, who was challenged by attorney Tom Newberg ( Tom Neuberger) representative. The lawsuit led to a settlement on November 11, 2020, which requires that the place of worship be treated as a “basic” business in the current state of emergency and any future emergency. Currently, the church’s population is limited to 40% of the normal population. For the living room of a house, or even a larger house, this does not mean many people.

Neuberg, who does not represent the fire church, said that people have gathered in families to worship for 2,000 years, and family worship is an absolute right. 

"Is this a prayer meeting?... I will not admit that the people's assembly is a church under the county law... If they try to regulate it... they have the constitutional right to worship in the Constitution." New Berg said. "According to Article 1 of the Delaware Constitution, anyone who gathers to worship God has the right to the state without the right to interfere in religious worship."

However, according to the settlement agreement, participants still need to comply with coronavirus restrictions, such as social distancing and wearing masks.

Tweedel believes that such a request violates the separation of church and state.

"The church has neither the right nor the obligation to'require' our family participants. By the way, for various reasons, there are many other groups in the same community gathering together, but the reason why we became the target is only It's because of our church!" he said.

He told WDEL to measure the temperature when entering the house and disinfect the surface before and after each repair.

“We provide masks for anyone who wants to wear masks, and we provide many rest areas away from where people can sit. Most importantly, the choice is ultimately determined by the individual’s conscience and the Lord’s leadership,” he said . "We are very cautious in the assembly, but I adhere to the principles of personal choice and responsibility given to us by God's word and the Constitution."

According to the Office of the State Fire Brigade, to formally call themselves a "church," homeowners will have to travel through the county to change their residency rights from a residence to a meeting place. From there, the occupancy rate can be determined.

Anonymous board members said that so far, DPH's actions are "selective enforcement."

"If I attend a party of 45 people, if someone complains, I might be fined. I think they don't want to fine the church because they are doing church services, but they can still fine the property owner... I think they are having options The enforcement measures are enforced locally, where you can withdraw money from the restaurant and the homeowner to pay the fine, but they did not pursue the homeowner,” said an anonymous maintenance committee member.

Morrison insisted that what happened inside the residence violated county regulations and public health regulations.

Morrison said: "In the sense of religious freedom, they are a church. This has nothing to do with the facts. It is completely against the county law to run a church outside of a family." "This is for Delaware. Many churches in the state have taken the right approach and followed the governor’s order. This is totally unfair. They maintain social distancing, wear masks, and provide services through Zoom, etc. So this is indeed a slap on the church. The church is doing the right thing. thing."

Another neighbor who wanted to remain anonymous stated that she "100%" would like to see the worship service stop.

"If they break the rules, then everyone else should do the same. Their clear intention is not to do anything to shut down, which makes me want them to shut down further because they don’t follow the rules and it’s not fair to others. Those who follow People of the rules. They received several notifications and they chose to ignore these notifications... what makes them so special?

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: For reports on WDEL's latest novel coronavirus COVID-19, including a list of symptoms and important numbers, the location of confirmed cases, and stories related to the pandemic, please visit 

Amy Cherry (Amy Cherry) is WDEL's assistant news director and news reporter. She joined WDEL's award-winning news team from WBZ Newsradio 1030 in Boston in 2010 and received national acclaim for reporting.

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