Hundreds of thousands of Christians attended church online across the nation Sunday, including President Donald Trump
This is after he leaned heavily on Scripture on Saturday to declare a National Day of Prayer in the wake of the new coronavirus pandemic.
The online shift comes as many churches responded to a call from public health and other local and federal government officials to abandon physical gatherings to help stem the spread of the virus that has already infected nearly 4,000 people and killed 69 of them in the United States.
As of Monday morning, more than 169,000 people were infected globally and more than 6,500 of them have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
President Trump announced on Twitter on Sunday morning that he had tuned in to the online worship service of Jentezen Franklin, senior pastor of the multi-campus Free Chapel Church in Gainesville, Georgia, who is also one of his evangelical advisers.
“I am watching a great and beautiful service by Pastor Jentezen Franklin. Thank you! @Jentezen,” Trump tweeted.
I am watching a great and beautiful service by Pastor Jentezen Franklin. Thank you! @Jentezen
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 15, 2020
In his acknowledgment of the president’s online presence, Franklin said his church was “undergirding” Trump’s family and administration with prayer.
