Chicago church defies mayor, plans Sunday service amid COVID-19 pandemic

As the stay-at-home order nears its second straight month, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is trying to stop churchgoers from defying it.

CHICAGO - As the stay-at-home order nears its second straight month, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is trying to stop churchgoers from defying it.

Two-hundred-and-twenty people attended church last weekend at Elim Romanian Pentecostal in Albany Park. Senior Pastor Cristian Ionescu says he is prepared to do again and it looks like Chicago police are ready to enforce the laws.

“We will have services this coming Sunday at 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. I invite you to come and see how we take temperatures and how we maintain 6-feet bubbles and other precautions,” Ionescu said.

Earlier this week, an Illinois judge ruled church services would risk lives of congregants.

"We are hopeful that we will not have to take any kind of enforcement action. But if we have to, we will,” Lightfoot said.