Defiant New Jersey Pastors Plan to Reopen Churches
Gov. Murphy’s order ‘doesn’t trump … Constitution. A handful of New Jersey pastors say they are reopening in defiance of Gov. Phil Murphy’s stay-at-home orders to stop the spread of the coronavirus, because of their religious convictions and constitutional rights. Charles Clark Jr., co-pastor of Solid Rock Baptist Church in Berlin who has been preaching for 45 years, made the announcement Wednesday at the South Jersey house of worship. “We’re not breaking the law by going to church,” Clark Jr. said. “The people telling us we can’t go to church are breaking the Constitution of the United States. It’s illegal…It’s just ridiculous in this country.”
Pandemic Will Alter Communion Rituals
For many US Christians. Holy Communion will have a different look when in-person worship services resume at the end of May in the Catholic Diocese of Knoxville, Tennessee: The wafers signifying the body of Christ will be placed in the hands of parishioners by priests and deacons wearing face masks and safety glasses. Similarly, striking changes in Communion will take place at Catholic and Protestant churches across the United States over coming weeks as restrictions on large gatherings –- imposed because of the coronavirus outbreak –- are gradually eased.
Your Favorite Restaurant Can’t Survive This
Takeout does not pay the rent. Restaurants that have dine-in, sit-down service (which are most independent restaurants) are very expensive to build — air conditioning, lighting, usually a bar area. Rent is based on square footage and restaurants like these have a lot of square footage to accommodate a full-service dining-in experience. Usually these restaurants are in desired neighborhoods with plenty of parking or foot traffic so rent per square foot is high. You simply cannot pay the rent selling take-out food. We are selling an experience at sit-down restaurants, not just food. Take out only restaurants survive because they have very small square-footage footprints and so their rents are low.
Restaurants Reclaim the Frozen Dinners
What seemed like an alternative to restaurants now looks like a blueprint for them. Some New York restaurants, including Nan Xiang, which sells dumplings in bags of thirty or fifty ($20-$26), have long peddled frozen items. Others, like Balkan Bites, which ships burek nationally ($18 for four), are new to the concept and have mastered it with aplomb—but then an open secret of restaurant kitchens is that the freezer is a crucial tool, despite its reputation as an enabler of corners cut. Frozen food is a shortcut, but so is takeout, and most takeout is not actually built to travel. Restaurant-quality frozen food is as fast, if not faster, nearly as effortless, and often more delicious.
Self-Serve Salad Bars and All-You-Can-Eat Buffets
Face an uncertain future in the age of coronavirus. Self-serve buffets and all-you-can-eat salad bars are, by design, hands-on affairs. So, where’s their place in a hands-off world? It’s been just over 80 years since America got its first taste of the buffet. Now, thanks to the novel coronavirus, this subset of the restaurant industry is facing an increasingly uncertain future, and Americans may have to swallow the idea of losing the ultimate symbol of dining freedom. While restaurants are firing up everything, they can think up to survive the pandemic, from curbside takeout and deliveries to catered drive-in movie theaters, the era of do-it-yourself dining could be doomed.
Did You Know?
Why Americans are praying during the coronavirus pandemic. Amid the tumultuous social and economic changes caused by the coronavirus pandemic, many Americans are still finding time to pray. In late March, the Pew Research Center published a study showing that most American adults (55%) had prayed for an end to the spread of COVID-19. Even 15% of those who seldom or never pray said they’d prayed about the virus. More recent research on this issue isn’t available, but the Pew findings indicate the pandemic was already shaping Americans’ prayers even in the early stages of its acceleration. This aligns with what researchers have long found about spirituality in the U.S. ― Americans pray a lot.
Employee Tip
Can you get both unemployment and a stimulus check? The CARES Act became law on March 27, 2020, with several financial aid provisions for American households. Two signature pieces of the stimulus package are now arriving – stimulus checks and enhanced unemployment benefits. As the unemployment rate continues to increase these benefits are more valuable than ever. Here’s what you need to know. Most taxpayers are getting a one-time stimulus check in the coming weeks – if they haven’t received it already. The payment is up to $1,200 for individuals ($2,400 for joint tax returns) and $500 per dependent child. A family of five can receive a one-time $3,900 payment, for instance.
Bielat Santore & Company – Restaurant Industry Daily Alerts
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Thank you and remember all of the “Restaurant Industry Alerts” and “Thursday Restaurant Rap” interviews can be found at www.123bsc.com/news/. We intend to continue to keep you informed as we all look for an end to this crisis.
