SAN DIEGO — A church in El Cajon held an outdoor prayer event Sunday with hundreds of people, most of them not wearing a mask or being socially distant. San Diego County is still under purple tier guidelines but many people of faith continue to gather in large groups indoors and outdoors, despite the surge in COVID-19 cases after the holiday.
“Let Us Worship” is the name of the prayer event lead by Sean Feucht and there are usually hundreds of people in attendance, most of the not following Coronavirus safety precautions.
“It’s a worship event. So, people go and listen to music and sing music. I wasn’t there very long. I went up and I gave my prayer. But what I saw didn’t concern me,” said William Wells, El Cajon’s Mayor.
Mayor Wells says he thinks people from all over San Diego County came out to the event.
“They’ve had dozens and dozens of these and of course they get a lot of scrutiny and they’ve never had a COVID case traced back to the event. ‘How would you know that?’ I talked to the organizer of the event and I don’t think he’d lie to me,” Wells said.
This is not the first time “Let Us Worship” has been held in San Diego County. Last July, the event came to Cardiff State Beach, just as Californians were adjusting to the stay-at-home order to slow down the spread of Coronavirus.
“I’ve never felt that lockdowns worked. I think that viruses are going to take their course, all people are going to be exposed to it. I don’t think it should be taken cavalierly. The virus is very serious,” Mayor Wells said.
The Mayor says that most importantly to him, the prayer events give people hope. He says holding the gatherings outdoors is also allowed under state COVID-19 guidelines.
Mayor Wells also told me he would work with San Diego County health officials if they wanted to conduct contact tracing for this event.
Hundreds gather for outdoor prayer event in El Cajon
“Let Us Worship” is the name of the prayer event lead by Sean Feucht.