Mississippi city revises limit on drive-up church amid virus

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi city facing freedom-of-religion lawsuits and pressure from the U.S. attorney general has revised its policy that banned drive-up church services during the coronavirus pandemic, now saying the services are OK with windows rolled up.

The Greenville City Council made changes Tuesday — the first time it had met since Mayor Errick D. Simmons promised revisions. The Justice Department took the rare step last week of backing a church that sued over the city's restrictions on worship.

Greenville's new policy erases any distinction between drive-up church services and other types of drive-up interactions, including picking up food at restaurants. It says, for example, that customers may roll windows down to get food but must roll them up while sitting in the car to eat.

Conflicts have arisen in several places over religious practices as officials set limits on people's movements because of COVID-19. A federal judge in California on Wednesday denied a request by three churches to have in-person services during the pandemic. A Louisiana pastor has continued to hold in-person services in defiance of public health orders. A Kentucky church that held in-person services on Easter filed a federal lawsuit challenging restrictions on gatherings that state.

Ryan Tucker is an attorney for Alliance Defending Freedom, one of the groups representing the Baptist church that sued Greenville over the original policy — the lawsuit backed by the Justice Department. Tucker said Wednesday that the group commends Greenville “for dropping its unconstitutional ban.”

“Public officials are right to care about public health and safety during the coronavirus crisis, but they are wrong when they treat churches more harshly than others in government orders related to it,” Tucker said.

Two lawsuits were...