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West Kentucky Churches Respond To Coronavirus Outbreak

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No cases of COVID-19 have yet been reported west of Jefferson County, but some churches in west Kentucky are still heeding Governor Andy Beshear’s recommendation to cancel Sunday services as the novel coronavirus spreads through the commonwealth.

First Presbyterian Church of Murray canceled Sunday services; Pastor Renee Meyer said the decision was made out of an abundance of caution. 

“Even though there’s not any tests available in Calloway County to say that there is any coronavirus here, that does not mean that there isn’t any coronavirus here,” Meyer said. 

First Baptist Church of Murray is also canceling Sunday services. Pastor Keith Inman said multiple events played into that decision

“Once they made the cancelation of the state high school basketball tournaments and once the SEC made their decision...all of this combined had a greater impact on our decision making,” he explained.

One of Inman’s predecessors was jailed for refusing to close First Baptist Church during the Spanish Influenza epidemic of 1918. Former FBC Pastor H. Boyce Taylor continued to preach from the window of his jail cell. Inman said he would be willing to do the same, but he said the situation is unlikely to reoccur. 

“I would be willing to do it if I felt like I had a cause to,” Inman said. “That doesn’t seem to be the case in this situation.”

FBC Murray is joined by First Baptist Church of Paducah in announcing their cancelation decision in a Facebook post. Many churches in the region are offering social media live streams of worship services instead of face-to-face services. First Missionary Baptist Church of Benton will hold a worship service with no congregants

Church cancelations throughout the commonwealth come after Governor Beshear declared a state of emergency last week.

Dalton York is a Morning Edition host and reporter for WKYU in Bowling Green. He is a graduate of Murray State University, where he majored in History with a minor in Nonprofit Leadership Studies. While attending Murray State, he worked as a student reporter at WKMS. A native of Marshall County, he is a proud product of his tight-knit community.
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