Chicago City Wire

The Philadelphia Romanian Church of God in Ravenswood is pressing on with in-person services despite being one of three churches slapped with a $500 fine by the city for defying Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s order limiting religious services to 10 or fewer.

“There will be low attendance this Sunday,” Pastor Florian Cimpean told Chicago City Wire, “but that’s traditional for this Sunday every year. The following Sunday is the Pentecost and for that we’ll have over 100.”

Cimpean said that the state and city governments have been “very aggressive” enforcing its 10-or-fewer policy under the governor’s stay-at-home order. Cimpean confirmed that this past Sunday Chicago Police prohibited parking in a nine-block area around the church to discourage attendance. And Uptown alderman Matt Martin (47th) sent a letter to local residents blaming the church for parking problems in the neighborhood.

“They are trying to turn our neighbors against us,” Cimpean said.

The tactics, he added, are reminiscent of those against the churches in communist Romania, and why in 1973 a group of the faithful fled to the U.S. and founded the church in Chicago.

The church, which can accommodate 1100, is being fined even though it practices all social distancing and safety guidelines, including the wearing of marks. 

“We are the ones who are supposed to be protected by the First Amendment, not Home Depot,” Cimpean said.

Cimpean has an ally in rural northern Illinois. This Sunday will be the fourth straight in-person service at The Beloved Church in Lena.

Pastor Steve Cassell said that attendance has been great. (He declined to give exact numbers to protect his church members.)

The Beloved Church two weeks ago filed a lawsuit pressuring Pritzker to amend his stay-at-home order; before the amendment, in-person services were completely banned.

Now Cassell has support on the legal front from the First Liberty Institute, Alliance Defending Freedom and the American Center for Law and Justice. All have filed legal action against Pritzker’s order.

“We are going in with a united front on this and our hope is that this gets all the way to the Supreme Court,” Cassell said. “A win upholds the tenets of the First Amendment. A loss means that any mayor anywhere can declare an emergency and shut down the churches.”