Mecklenburg County to require masks at indoor religious gatherings. What we know.

People attending indoor services and events at religious institutions in Mecklenburg County will soon be required to wear masks, Mecklenburg County commissioners voted Wednesday.

The board voted to mandate mask-wearing inside religious institutions in a 5-4 split-decision vote, broadening the county’s mask mandate and creating disagreements about religious freedom among board members.

Now, officials will have to revise the mask mandate and vote on the updated version on Sept. 21. After that vote, the new mandate will be posted in a newspaper for 10 days before becoming law.

“I think we’re going down a slippery slope,” said George Dunlap, the board chairman and District 3 commissioner.

Leigh Altman, an at-large commissioner, said it is “equal and fair treatment” to include all indoor, in-person gatherings in the mask mandate, even if they are religious. Altman made the motion to include religious gatherings in the county’s mask mandate. Religious activities “constituting the exercise of First Amendment rights” have been exempt from the county’s rule, which went into effect Aug. 31.

“We should protect people wherever they are, including when they are gathering as a faith community,” Altman said.

Altman added there have been deaths in Mecklenburg County caused by coronavirus transmission at religious gatherings.

Commissioners Altman, Mark Jerrell, Susan Rodriguez-McDowell, Laura Meier and Ella Scarborough voted yes, while Vilma Leake, Elaine Powell, Pat Cotham and Dunlap voted no.

Mask mandates and religious freedom

The opposition to the new requirement for religious institutions largely stems from a fear of violating the separation of church and state — the idea that government should not regulate religion, and vice versa.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, public officials at times struggled to find a balance between upholding religious independence while also protecting public health.

The largest COVID-19 outbreak to date in Mecklenburg was connected to events at the United House of Prayer for All People nearly one year ago.

More than 200 cases and 12 deaths were tied to events at the church in October 2020. The event featured large numbers of people traveling to the county, and positive cases included residents of Iredell, Gaston and Cabarrus counties.

The outbreak prompted county health officials to issue a rare imminent hazard order to shut down in-person church activities, after leaders there initially did not participate with county inquiries or efforts to conduct contact tracing.

Still, officials in Charlotte and elsewhere have been wary to implement longer-lasting restrictions on religious gatherings.

“I respect the right of separation of church and state, and I don’t want us to go down a slippery road, a slippery slope,” Dunlap said, adding that if a church does not want to require masks, “That’s a church’s right.”

Health Director Gibbie Harris said officials have been limited in their ability to enforce mask mandates, and gave details on no enforcement measures other than providing education and having conversations with businesses and schools that have received complaints.

So far, the county has received 168 complaints since Aug. 19 related to the county’s mask mandate, Harris said, most of them coming from private schools.

COVID-19 and religion in the courts

Rules relating to religious services and COVID-19 restrictions have brought court rulings in several states, including North Carolina.

In May 2020, a federal judge struck down a rule from Gov. Roy Cooper that prohibited indoor religious gatherings with more than 10 people in attendance. The order pointed out that his rule appeared harsher on religious institutions that other indoor activities, like businesses that were allowed 50% of their indoor capacity.

The Supreme Court has also weighed in on pandemic restrictions, striking down a California rule that created limits on home-based Bible study sessions to no more than three households. Similar to the North Carolina ruling, the Supreme Court majority wrote that the restriction was unfair because businesses could bring together more than three households.

The court also blocked a California ban that attempted to ban indoor religious gatherings altogether, though it did rule that the state could limit capacity. As a result of that ruling, both Los Angeles County and the state agreed to pay $400,000 each to a church that filed suit.

Lauren Lindstrom contributed to this story.