Bishops of the Diocese of North Carolina Respond to Questions About In-Person Worship This Weekend

Sometimes information moves so quickly, it can be hard to parse fact from rumor. We don’t ever want to overreact to a stressful situation; however, when safety is at risk, sometimes caution – even if proven later to be unnecessary – is the prudent course of action.

Throughout today, we have been contacted by church leaders in our diocese after seeing social media posts by members of other denominations. The posts related to increased “chatter” on extremist channels regarding potential threats against “liberal” churches tomorrow, January 17, as well as Wednesday, January 20.

We have not received notification by law enforcement of such threats. We have no direct knowledge of any threat made against any church of any denomination in North Carolina. We have reached out to local law enforcement in Raleigh to inquire about any information they have and that we should share. As of this writing, they have not been notified or made aware of any direct local threats.

We share this not to induce alarm, but rather to keep our faithful informed of a concern brought to our attention. We have already requested that due to the COVID pandemic, every church in the Diocese of North Carolina return to online worship for at least the next six weeks starting Monday, January 18.

If, in an abundance of caution, you decide to suspend in-person worship tomorrow and worship online only, you have our full support. We are not mandating you do so, but if that is the choice you believe is best for your congregation, we support your decision.

Again, we share this information not to raise unnecessary alarm, but to address a concern that was brought to us over the course of this day. Vigilance will be necessary in the coming days as tension will likely remain high through Wednesday and as the pandemic continues. Always, the safety and health of those in the Diocese of North Carolina is our first priority, and we pray that in the coming days and weeks, we find relief so the healing, both physical and spiritual, can begin.