Robert Jeffress hopes to combat vaccine fears with First Baptist Dallas COVID-19 vaccination effort – The Dallas Morning News

To combat vaccine hesitancy among Christian evangelicals, First Baptist Church in Dallas will have a COVID-19 vaccination clinic May 16.

Senior pastor Robert Jeffress said he hopes the move will encourage people to get shots so more of his 14,000 congregants can come and worship in person.

Our church will never be what it needs to be until youre back. The greater risk is the spiritual danger of staying isolated, Jeffress said in a recent sermon. Im not forcing anybody to get the vaccine. Thats your choice. But what I am saying is if you are not back yet, and would like to come back, one option is to take the vaccine, and therefore you dont have to worry about what other people do or dont do here in the church.

Ben Lovvorn, First Baptists executive pastor, said the church is partnering with Dallas County Health and Human Services and will distribute as many Moderna doses as needed based on advanced registrations.

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said the clinic is one of many efforts the county is using to target groups of people who may be hesitant to get the vaccine. In Deep Ellum, for example, he said the county is partnering with local businesses to target younger bar patrons.

Jenkins said he hoped Christians who attend other churches would be more likely to sign up for the vaccine at First Baptist.

That may change minds, he said. Were just trying to get to every community... What we can all identify is that were stronger together. We all need to do our patriotic duty and get the vaccine.

The clinic at First Baptist will be focused on first doses, with a follow-up clinic in a few weeks for second doses, Lovvorn. People can register online at firstdallas.org/vaccine.

We wanted to do this as a resource and an opportunity for our church family, Lovvorn said. We are not pressuring anyone to get the vaccine, but if you are one of those individuals who desire to get the vaccine and you have not had the opportunity to do so yet, you will.

Lovvorn said he and Jeffress have been fully vaccinated.

Jeffress is among a group of high-profile evangelical pastors who are supporting vaccine efforts. Earlier this year on a Fox News appearance, he compared getting the vaccine to his stance against abortion.

We talk about life inside the womb being a gift from God, he said. Well, life outside the womb is a gift from God, too.

According to the Pew Research Center, white evangelicals are among the least-likely demographic groups to get the vaccines. In a March poll, 45% of evangelicals said they would not get the shots.

Those numbers have fueled concern even within evangelical circles. The National Association of Evangelicals, which represents more than 45,000 local churches, is part of a new coalition that will host events, work with media outlets and distribute various public messages to build trust among wary evangelicals.

The pathway to ending the pandemic runs through the evangelical church, said Curtis Chang, a former pastor and missionary who founded ChristiansAndTheVaccine.com, the cornerstone of the new initiative. With white evangelicals making up an estimated 20% of the U.S. population, resistance to vaccination by half of them would seriously hamper efforts to achieve herd immunity, Chang contends.

Chang said that as a former pastor, he understands why some whose congregations are mistrustful of the government and the vaccines may muzzle themselves rather than risk backlash if they urge their flocks to get vaccinated.

Theres going to be some courage required, Chang said.

His initiative includes a toolkit for pastors offering suggestions for how to address within a Christian framework the various concerns of skeptical evangelicals. They range from the extent of the vaccines link to abortion to whether they represent the mark of the beast, an ominous harbinger of the end times prophesized in the New Testaments Book of Revelation.

Partnering in the initiative is the Ad Council, which is known for iconic public service ad campaigns such as Smokey Bear and Friends Dont Let Friends Drive Drunk.

We know the important role faith plays in the lives of millions of people throughout the country, Ad Council president Lisa Sherman said, expressing hope that the campaign could boost their confidence in the vaccines.

Some large Dallas-area churches, like the Potters House in southern Dallas, have served as vaccination sites. Others dont have plans to do so.

Gateway Church, an evangelical church with eight locations across North Texas, isnt planning to host vaccine drives any time soon, said the churchs executive director of media, Lawrence Swicegood.

Because vaccines are relatively accessible across North Texas, the church wasnt planning to start one. But we certainly would consider it and would be available if any circumstances change, Swicegood said.

He also said church leaders arent concerned that the evangelical community is wary of vaccines. He said the church has been proactive about implementing protocols recommended by health and government officials to protect their congregants against coronavirus. Many pastors and staff members at the church have been fully vaccinated, Swicegood said.

Were very much supportive of whatever helps rid our communities of the pandemic, he said.

Staff writer Mariana Rivas and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Robert Jeffress hopes to combat vaccine fears with First Baptist Dallas COVID-19 vaccination effort - The Dallas Morning News