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Senior Pastor Robert Morris preached from the Gateway Church pulpit in Southlake on Sunday, eight days after attending the so-called “super-spreader” Rose Garden ceremony at the White House on Sept. 26.
Morris was photographed at the ceremony not wearing a mask and seated directly behind Notre Dame President John Jenkins, who was also unmasked and later tested positive for the virus.
A spokesman for the church did not return a phone call for a statement, but told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram via email Tuesday that Morris had tested negative for COVID-19 within the last 10 days.
On Sunday, Morris attended the church’s 20-year anniversary celebration, where he hugged someone onstage and addressed the congregation without wearing a mask.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends anyone exposed to someone who tests positive for the virus quarantine for at least 14 days following the exposure and maintain six feet of social distance from others.
Prestonwood Baptist Church Pastor Jack Graham, 70, was also at the Rose Garden event, and declined to follow medical guidelines despite being in close contact with people who have since tested positive for the coronavirus, telling his Plano congregation, “I am ridiculously healthy.”
At the ceremony, President Donald Trump formally announced his nomination of conservative Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court. Since the event, at least 10 attendees have tested positive for the coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, including former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who was photographed sitting directly behind Graham. Pastor Greg Laurie of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, Calif., was sitting next to Graham and also later tested positive.
In June, Trump visited Gateway, one of the largest and fastest-growing places of worship in the U.S., where he promised to “dominate the streets” amid nationwide civil unrest over the repeated killings of unarmed black men at the hands of police.