What do Colorado churches teach about faith-based vaccine mandates?
Also: Colorado pastors join criticism of SBC’s handling of sexual abuse investigation
Faith-based vaccine exemptions are in the news again after a UC Health patient on the list for a kidney transplant who declined to get a COVID-19 vaccine for religious reasons was told she would be removed from the transplant list unless she got vaccinated. According to the hospital system this is standard practice, but the reactions the story provoked show that many Coloradans have strong feelings about the legitimacy of religious exemptions. We wanted to know what actual faith leaders had to say on the subject.
Have Faith, Colorado reached out to a range of different denominations and religious groups in Colorado to inquire whether they allowed clergy to request faith-based vaccine exemptions for their followers and if so, under what circumstances. This list is not intended to be exhaustive and is limited to Christian denominations, as attempts to reach out to other faith groups received limited responses.
We found that churches that historically have expressed more liberal social views were more likely to explicitly reject religious exemptions, while more conservative churches were more likely to support them or have a neutral stance — though there are several exceptions. Read on for more detail:
Bishop Kym Lucas of The Episcopal Church in Colorado has not given a directive to clergy about whether they can request exemptions, diocesan representative Mike Orr told HFC, “however, she has given her expectation that all clergy in the diocese should be vaccinated to protect others as well as themselves.” The bishop’s latest guidelines to churches request that all parishioners wear masks indoors and practice other mitigation measures.
The Mountain Sky Conference of the United Methodist Church will not provide religious exemption letters, according to a policy statement provided to HFC. “It is as a matter of discipleship as followers of Jesus to do all we can to protect the most vulnerable and engage in behaviors that further healthy communities,” it reads.
The Rocky Mountain Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America referred HFC to the national ELCA’s statement on vaccines, which encourages participation in public health measures and says that there is “no evident basis for religious exemption” in Lutheran social teachings.
The Rocky Mountain District of the Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod did not respond to a request for comment, but the national president said in a letter that the church does not have an official stance and “religious or personal belief exemptions are based on conscientious objection and do not require official support from the denomination.”
The Denver and Pueblo presbyteries of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) both directed HFC to the PC(USA)’s national guidelines, which states that “those who refuse to be vaccinated are prolonging the pandemic and spreading the coronavirus and its variants to people who cannot receive the vaccine” and that the church’s theological commitments do not support religious exemptions.
A representative for the Rocky Mountain Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in America said that there has not been any discussion about faith-based exemptions among the elders who lead the presbytery and individual churches would need to be contacted for their stances.
The Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Denver had not responded to a request for comment at press time, but the overarching Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America stated in September that: “Although some may be exempt from the vaccination for clear medical reasons, there is no exemption in the Orthodox Church for Her faithful from any vaccination for religious reasons, including the coronavirus vaccine. For this reason, letters of exemption for the vaccination against the coronavirus for religious purposes issued by priests of the Archdiocese of America have no validity, and furthermore, no clergy are to issue such religious exemption letters for any reason.”
In a letter, the bishops of Colorado’s three Catholic dioceses oppose vaccine mandates without faith-based exemptions on religious freedom grounds. The letter says that under Catholic teaching the vaccines are ethical but not morally obligatory to receive, and that “if any person comes to an informed judgment that he or she should receive or not receive a vaccine, that person should follow their conscience, and they should not be penalized for doing so.” The Colorado Catholic Conference has a letter template that clergy can send on behalf of those who are requesting an exemption explaining some of the Catholic teachings that could lead individual Catholics to refuse a vaccine.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which primarily operates at a national scale, rather than having regional authorities, is not offering religious exemptions to members, but isn’t dissuading members from applying for exemptions at their places of employment, the Deseret News reported. “Vaccinations administered by competent medical professionals protect health and preserve life,” said the church’s General Handbook’s entry on vaccinations.
Has your faith community weighed in on religious exemptions? If so, we’d love to hear from you.
Colorado Southern Baptist pastors speak out with others in controversy of historic proportions
Last week, 14 Colorado pastors joined the 1,100-plus Southern Baptist leaders who wrote joint letters across 24 states calling for the Southern Baptist Convention executive committee to waive attorney-client privilege for a third-party investigation into the executive committee’s handling of sexual abuse claims.
Various sexual abuse reform efforts, such as the executive committee investigation, have seen greater momentum in the past couple years since a 2019 Houston Chronicle investigation published found 700 victims since 1998.
The Colorado pastors who signed onto the recent letter about the executive committee are:
· Joe Chambers, Mountain Heights Baptist Church, Buena Vista
· Tree Cooper, Cornerstone Baptist, Windsor
· JT English and Rick Lewis, Storyline Church, Arvada
· Mark Hallock, Calvary Englewood
· Kevin Hasenack, Calvary Wellspring, Aurora
· Matt Horne, Calvary New City, Aurora
· Matthew Perry, Arapahoe Road Baptist Church, Centennial
· Chris Phillips, Journey Point Church, Denver
· Eric Sanford, Journeymen Church, Denver
· Derick Sherfey, The Oaks Church, Denver
· Mark Spence, Mississippi Ave Baptist Church, Aurora
· Tim Wheeless, Cross Family Church, Parker
· Adam Young, Element Church, Aurora
“To this point, you have failed to comply with the will of the messengers demonstrating belief that you are above the will of the messengers. This is unacceptable,” the 14 Coloradans wrote.
In June, the SBC messengers, or the voting delegates, approved the investigation and asked the executive committee to waive attorney-client privilege. The executive committee voted on Sept. 21 and 28 to waive privilege, which failed both times. Then, all these joint letters and other statements from prominent Southern Baptist leaders came out, urging the executive committee to waive privilege.
Some of the joint letters, Liam explored in one story, included threats from churches to withdraw church giving to the executive committee. The Colorado churches did not make that threat.
This past Tuesday, the executive committee did ultimately vote to waive privilege. In contrast to the call from these 14 churches, Colorado’s one representative on the executive committee, Brad Kolman from Delta, voted against waiving privilege all three times.
Briefly noted
The Boulder County DA has dismissed the case against former Shambhala teacher William Karelis, who was arrested in 2019 on suspicion of sexually assaulting a girl he was mentoring. The victim in the case, who was 13 when the alleged assaults took place around 2000, declined to cooperate with the prosecution due to trauma according to the Daily Camera.
Rev. Michael O’Brien, former priest at St. Mary Catholic Church in Aspen, has been accused of sexually abusing a minor between 2004 and 2008 during the time he was the parish’s priest. The Aspen police department is investigating the allegation, according to the Aspen Times, but charges have not been filed.
“Your beliefs and religion do not dictate my rights” read the sign of one woman at the Denver location of a nationwide rally Saturday protesting Texas’ six-week abortion ban. The same day, 400 Catholics marched around the Planned Parenthood clinic in Stapleton.
The night before, Sacred Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Boulder was vandalized, with “my body, my choice,” “hands off my uterus” and other slogans spray-painted on church property.
Colorado observed its second Frances Xavier Cabrini Day on Monday, honoring Italian-American nun Mother Cabrini, the first U.S. citizen to be canonized by the Catholic Church.
A case regarding a Cherry Creek student expelled for an antisemitic Snapchat post is going to the court of appeals, where a new Supreme Court ruling regarding student free speech points in his favor.
Colorado Christian University hosted a Turning Point USA talk with PragerU employee Will Witt on Thursday.
A new documentary about Pauli Murray, a prominent civil rights activist and The Episcopal Church’s first Black female priest, won the audience award at the Aspen Filmfest.
Denver Post readers wrote in to voice opposition to religious vaccine exemptions in response to a recent op-ed.
The Boulder Center for Judaism created a mobile sukkah that it took to different places around the city for people to observe the Jewish holiday Sukkot in a COVID-safe way.
The Episcopal Church in Colorado’s General Convention is Oct. 7-9, and includes several virtual events that are free and open to the public.
Several days later, Colorado Baptists will have its annual meeting Oct. 11-12 in Fort Collins.
The Daily Camera photographed the Día de los Muertos exhibit at the Longmont Museum, which will be on display Oct. 9 through Nov. 7.
Steve Rabey wrote a story for the Colorado Springs Gazette about the good intentions of Springs-based Exodus Road, a Christian nonprofit fighting sex trafficking. But Steve didn’t neglect to mention Heidi Beedle’s reporting about allegations of sexual and financial misconduct at Exodus Road for the Colorado Springs Indy.
There’s a Christian ministry in Pueblo that offers free RV parking and utilities hookups for missionaries and other travelers. Pueblo’s zoning department isn’t cool with it, Debbie Kelley reported for the Colorado Springs Gazette.
And finally, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Longmont held its blessing of the animals service last Sunday — click through for some adorable pictures.
“Have Faith, Colorado” is a weekly roundup and analysis of local religion articles in the Centennial State. It’s by Liam Adams and Carina Julig. Carina covers education and other Aurora news at the Sentinel Colorado. Liam has worked as a local journalist in Colorado and a freelancer covering religion. He recently started as the religion reporter at The Tennessean. To connect with us about the newsletter please email liamadams.journalism@gmail.com and carina.julig@colorado.edu, and follow us on twitter at @liamsadams and @CarinaJulig.