‘Hurting in their heart.’ KY church in spotlight after coronavirus spread at revival.
It can be uncomfortable to be singled out very publicly as an example of how gatherings can spread the potentially-dangerous novel coronavirus, as Hopkins County residents found out when Gov. Andy Beshear did it Wednesday with one of their churches.
Beshear told the story of how a revival meeting at the church near Dawson Springs the weekend of March 14-15 had led to two dozen cases of COVID-19, two deaths and potential exposure for many more people.
Beshear didn’t name the church, but said it was in Dawson Springs, which signs on roads into town proudly identify as the hometown of his father, former Gov. Steve Beshear. But some residents knew which church was at issue. More did Thursday when the newspaper in the county, The Messenger, put a photo of the rural Star of Bethlehem Church on the front page.
On Thursday, there were mixed reactions about Beshear putting a spotlight on the rural Kentucky church.
Some had no problem with it, pointing out the church members could have exposed others in the community after the service.
“Before that happened, we didn’t have it here,” Joe Gerard, who was wearing a face mask and gloves as he pumped gas at the Ideal station, said of confirmed COVID-19 cases.
Trent Keeton, pastor of First Baptist Church in Dawson Springs, said people attending the church where the revival occurred didn’t intend to spread the virus. Still, there are probably some hard feelings over the incident, he said.
“I’ve heard, ‘I can’t believe they did that. Why did they do that?’ “ said Keeton, whose church has switched to online services.
The coronavirus has turned the world upside down, cost many people their jobs and provoked anger. Against that backdrop, the revival meeting is something for some to lash out over, Keeton said.
In recent weeks, after Beshear asked churches not to gather, services in other Kentucky counties have led to potential exposure to the novel coronavirus for dozens of people, including services in Pulaski and Calloway counties.
Other people said they didn’t mind that Beshear highlighted the incident as part of his persistent efforts to limit the spread of the disease by limiting gatherings and urging people to keep a safe distance from others, but they wished he hadn’t named the town.
Dawson Springs Mayor Chris Smiley said the governor went a bit too far in putting the spotlight on the church, pointing out many others held services that weekend as well.
“They’re getting a bad rap,” he said.
Some residents said Beshear had only urged churches to stop having services before the revival service, and didn’t issue an order requiring that until afterward.
Smiley said the church is a tight-knit congregation that built a new facility perhaps 15 years ago. The well-kept metal-and-brick building — with a copy of the Ten Commandments in the landscaping in front and designated parking spots for the pastor and Sunday School superintendent — is in the Ilsley community.
Once the members of the church figured out there was a problem, they self-quarantined, Smiley said.
“They tried to knock it in the head as quick as they could,” he said.
Beshear, however, said that people attending the revival did not stay a safe distance from each other. The governor said his information came through a letter from the county health department.
And after some people started feeling sick the church said on social media that it was the flu and were encouraged to still come to attend, Beshear said.
Still, Smiley gives Beshear high marks for how he’s handled the coronavirus crisis, and said he agrees with the governor’s push for stringent social distancing to limit the spread of the virus.
“I understand where he’s coming from,” Smiley said. “Even in a small town, you have to be careful.”
Ricky Whitaker, the magistrate for the Dawson Springs area, said Beshear “slammed” the area.
“He pulled the trigger on ’em,” he said of the church, “but I guess he had to. I guess he had to pull the trigger on somebody to get ’em to pay attention.”
Some small, rural churches have been slower to catch up with the need to stop in-person services. Some people in rural areas may have thought the virus was a big-city problem, but that’s changing, Whitaker said.
“Everybody’s thinking it was like New York. They’re figuring it out now,” Whitaker said.
Several residents said that’s what they took from Beshear’s discussion of the church — that it was an example of why social distancing is necessary, not an effort to embarrass the church.
“Notice what one, one meeting, can do,” Beshear said at his daily coronavirus news conference. “Hopkins County has been hit really, really hard.”
Efforts to reach Bro. Brad Giffin, listed as the pastor on the church sign, were not successful.
The church was taking some flak on social media Thursday, but local officials said that was not appropriate and urged people not to blame the congregation.
Hopkins County Judge-Executive Jack Whitfield Jr. said the church members did not intend to put anyone at risk by meeting.
“If anybody knows that they’ve spread this they are hurting in their heart,” said Whitfield, a member of a Baptist church.
Whitfield called churches the “heart and soul” of the community and said it was unfortunate that one was involved in helping spread the virus while meeting and “trying to do good for the community.”
But he said it’s a lesson that churches need to stop having in-person services.
“If they’re meeting, they’re taking a chance on losing some of their people,” he said.
Madisonville Mayor Kevin Cotton pointed out in a briefing on Facebook that people have also congregated at birthday parties, weddings and funerals.
“Before we cast the first stone, let’s look at our own back door,” he said. “We need to be giving words of encouragement to those who are quarantined.”
This story was originally published April 2, 2020 at 6:00 PM.
