In 1918, the world took on against a lethal opponent: the Spanish Flu, saw today as the most extreme pandemic in current history. It contaminated an estimated 500 million individuals internationally and eliminated approximately 50 million.

Simply over 100 years later on, the world is battling a pandemic once again as the coronavirus spreads. While things have actually significantly altered in terms of health care, innovation and culture, some things are eerily similar.

In Tennessee, the health problem, typically referred to as “grip” or “grippe” in newspapers at the time, appears to have come barreling through Nashville in the fall of1918 In simply 4 months, a Nashville physician approximated that 8,000 Tennesseans had passed away due to the fact that of flu problems.

While newspapers focused heavily on World War I and efforts to assist soldiers who were combating abroad, stories about the Spanish Influenza pressed into the narrative as the fatal virus sneaked into towns and cities across the nation.

While “social distancing” wasn’t a term used in 1918, it was certainly being practiced and encouraged.

Companies shuttered, churches closed and extra attention to health was motivated.

Sound familiar?

Faith leaders supported church closures

Faith leaders throughout Nashville adopted a resolution to close houses of worship in October 1918, Nashville Banner archives reveal.

” It was considered best to suspend all church services as a preventive measure versus a more spread of the feared malady,” press reporters composed at the time.

Around 92 churches across Nashville closed at the prompting of the city health department, and with little protest. One pastor composed in The Tennessean that although the closures came at a time when people greatly depended on their faith, it was a required step.

The majority of churches have actually taken a similar stance today amid the coronavirus pandemic, halting services and transitioning to remote worship to protect their parishes.

But some pastors and faith leaders have dissented.

In Harris County, Texas, a group of pastors have filed a lawsuit alleging that their federal rights have been broken due to federal government disturbance.

Dale Walker, who is president of the Tennessee Pastors Network, has openly shared on Facebook his frustration with Gov. Costs Lee, who in March stated that churches that were providing in-person services were “running the risk of people’s lives.”

Walker didn’t agree, comparing the suppressing of in-person worship services to “Big Sibling” on Facebook and grumbling on WZTV that “wicked liquor shops” were still open throughout the pandemic.