A Coeur d'Alene pastor, who opened his 1,200 member church in early May for in-person services that encouraged unmasked congregants to gather, has been recovering from COVID-19 at the Kootenai Health intensive care unit.
Paul Van Noy, the senior pastor at Candlelight Christian Fellowship, has spent the past two weeks in the ICU while his wife, Brenda Van Noy, recovered from her own bout with COVID-19 at home. Five other church staff have been infected, said Eric Reade, body ministry coordinator for the church.
Candlelight's stance on mask-wearing and social-distancing has not changed since Van Noys' diagnosis.
When asked whether masks are mandated to attend services in compliance with state law, Reade said, "No."
Church members' responses to the infections have varied, with many continuing to gather unmasked.
Last week, church members held a vigil for Van Noy outside of Kootenai Health, the Coeur d'Alene Press reported. Attendees were pictured gathering in close proximity without masks.
Brenda Van Noy has been active on social media throughout her illness, posting to her public Facebook a mixture of heath updates and conspiracy theories, many of which have been flagged by Facebook as untrue. These posts include, misinterpretations of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, references to the #Savethechildren movement, which has been linked to QAnon, and the assertion that "fact checkers didn't exist until the truth started to get out."
She also acknowledged she had underestimated the virus prior to contracting it, but did not respond to requests for comment.
During Paul Van Noy's absence from the pulpit, the church plans to bring in guest speakers, including Charlie Kirk, a controversial evangelist, Trump supporter, and founder and president of Turning Point USA, a nonprofit aimed at conservative youth activists that has been criticized for spreading misinformation.
Kirk is scheduled to speak with Rob McCoy, the Ventura, California pastor who was recently fined for holding indoor church services against COVID-19 restrictions.
The two are set to speak at an in-person church service on September 27th.