Gov. Beshear recommends churches cancel service this week amid COVID-19 outbreak

Governor Andy Beshear is urging churches across the state to cancel services this weekend.

Needless to say, that's raising a few eyebrows across the state. It’s really too soon to tell what churches across Kentucky will do.

Rev. Robert Blythe, the pastor at First Baptist Church in Richmond, tells us he has not made a decision yet whether his services will continue as normal or will be canceled.

We did ask him if he agreed with the governor’s suggestion to cancel service.

Rev. Blythe says he thinks the governor has a good reason.

He says in the 35 years that he’s been a pastor in Richmond, he’s never canceled for illness only for weather-related events.

But with an older congregation who were all very close to one another things could change.

“The tendency to want to embrace one another there’s a greater possibility of exposure to some things they may not even be aware of so in the next hour and will get a decision made that we feel that will be the best will pray about it certainly,” Rev. Blythe said.

That’s something that he mentioned is that he doesn’t want to appear weak in his faith and he doesn’t want other people to look at each other that way.

If your church service is canceled that doesn’t mean that you can’t still practice your faith at home.

He is meeting with deacons at his church to come to a decision within the next hour I’m gonna stay here to figure out what their plans will be.