Hours after President Trump outlined his guidelines for “Opening Up American Again,” North Texans emphasized safety before reopening.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has called a press conference Friday at noon, where he is expected to speak about the economic response to the coronavirus. It will be streamed live at the top of this article.
At Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church in Plano, doors are closed and the sanctuary is empty.
For weeks, Pastor Isiah Joshua's pulpit has turned virtual.
“That in itself has been a blessing,” he said.
Pastor Joshua has been streaming sermons since the shutdown began in March.
Churches would be among the first to reopen under President Trump’s guidelines for “Opening Up America Again.”
Despite possibly being allowed to reopen as early as next month, Pastor Joshua said he'll likely wait even longer until he's sure it's safe.
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“Their [parishioners] safety and well-being means so much more to me than just bringing them back for tithes or for offerings or for the economy of the church to be better,” Pastor Joshua said.
Under phase one of the three-phase plan, "Places of worship can operate under strict physical distancing protocols."
But taprooms like TUPPS Brewery in McKinney could have to wait until phase two.
“That's honestly very good news because we would like to get our fans back together, but we're watching what our president does, we're watching what our governor does and really importantly we're watching what our mayor does,” TUPPS Brewery owner Keith Lewis said.
Just days after insisting he has total authority to order states what to do, Thursday afternoon the president told all 50 governors "you're going to call your own shots."
In Austin, protesters peacefully gathered outside the governor's mansion Thursday, demanding Texas begin the process of reopening.
