Name: Tent revival amid pandemic has towns around New Ipswich worried
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Tent revival amid pandemic has towns around New Ipswich worried

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Please purchase a subscription to continue reading.Please to continue reading.×Thank you for reading!We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.×You have reached the limit for free access to our important and valuable work.Subscribers, click below to login or register your subscription to continue receiving unlimited access to UnionLeader.com.Visitors, click to subscribe below today for immediate unlimited access to UnionLeader.com and our e-Edition, a page-for-page replica of the newspaper. Subscribers help us deliver trusted news, information and resources to connect the Granite State.You have reached the limit for free access to our important and valuable work.Subscribers, click below to login or register your subscription to continue receiving unlimited access to UnionLeader.com.Your current subscription does not provide access to this content.You are the owner of this article.You have permission to edit this article.NEW IPSWICH — As hundreds of worshipers converge on the town this week for a tent revival of the controversial Last Reformation Church, neighboring communities fear the possible spread of COVID-19.“I’m worried about what’s going to happen when this is over,” said Jaffrey Select Board Chair Franklin Sterling.The revival, which lasts all week, is expected to draw between 500 and 1,000 people.In the weeks leading up to the event, New Ipswich selectmen considered trying to prevent the tent revival but were advised they had no legal authority to halt a religious service. Instead, after they talked with state officials about the event, Gov. Chris Sununu issued an order requiring face masks for all gatherings of 100 or more people.“I have every intention of enforcing the Governor’s orders,” New Ipswich Police Chief Timothy Carpenter said in a statement Thursday. “However, we are working with the Attorney General’s Office regarding this issue. How that is accomplished will not stop the event from continuing unless the event organizers wish to stop it.”Carpenter said he must enforce the law, which includes protecting the organizers’ Constitutional right to hold the services. Carpenter notes that New Hampshire has held other large-scale gatherings in recent weeks, with more to come.“I will politely remind everyone that NH just hosted a NASCAR (race) in the Town of Loudon,” Carpenter wrote. “Participants at that event came from up and down the eastern seaboard that were COVID hotspots.”Carpenter also noted that Laconia’s annual bike event in a few weeks will have participants “from far and wide.”On Friday, as the event was starting, a Union Leader correspondent was told he could not take photos or video or interview any attendee or official at the revival.Individuals working as event security were not wearing masks, though a sign at the Locke Road entrance announced masks were available.When the Union Leader correspondent took photos using a drone flying in public space on Locke Road, event security threatened to call police.The Locke Road property owner, New Hampshire State Rep. Paul Somero (R-New Ipswich), declined to answer questions Friday when he arrived in a pickup with New Hampshire State House license plates to confront the correspondent.“I’m an American citizen,” Somero said.The event is taking place on a large field off Locke Road in a small valley known as Lord’s Valley.Torben Sondergaard, the Danish preacher behind the Last Reformation Church, called the reaction to his tent revival “persecution” in a video released Friday on social media.The church initially said members would not wear masks and had no intention of social distancing. In the video, Sondergaard said the church would move the revival service out of the tent and use Somero’s field for the service to achieve social distancing.“It’s time for us to come out of the tent to stay together,” Sondergaard said.Unlike Vermont and Massachusetts, New Hampshire does not require masks everywhere in public, though some towns, including Keene and Nashua, have enacted ordinances requiring masks to be worn in public. New Hampshire does allow businesses to require masks.New Ipswich selectmen issued an advisory to residents and business owners reminding them they can require customers to wear face masks and use hand sanitizer.Peterborough’s board issued a statement Friday that it is taking steps to support residents and businesses if they encounter someone refusing to socially distance or wear a mask.“Unless there is a valid reason for not following these requirements, businesses are able to refuse service to any customer not following the safe practices in place. Should a customer create an incident, the Peterborough Police Department has been and will continue to be available for assistance,” the Peterborough statement read.Gov. Chris Sununu’s Tuesday order requiring masks for gatherings of 100 or more people means New Ipswich needs help starting this weekend, acc…© Copyright 2020 , 100 William Loeb Drive Manchester, NH&nbsp;| &nbsp;|Powered by from .

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Tent revival amid pandemic has towns around New Ipswich worried

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