SANFORD, Maine — The Calvary Baptist Church in Sanford is the most recent COVID-19 outbreak connected to an August wedding in Millinocket.
Pastor Todd Bell is the pastor at the church and he officiated the wedding.
Neighbors are concerned about what this means for the Sanford community.
"He came back and made it sound like it was okay. That it was God's will," Deb Marchand said. Marchand lives across the street from the church.
NEWS CENTER Maine reached out to Pastor Bell repeatedly. By phone, email, social media and in person while he was leaving church service on Sunday morning.
At the service on Sunday, Pastor Bell referenced the wedding in Millinocket.
"I went to the wedding. I officiated the wedding. It was a beautiful wedding," Pastor Bell said to his congregation. "Six families from our church went there. We never expected to get covid. Nobody expected to experience the things that happened because you went to a beautiful thing like that."
Members of the church community were unhappy with the local news attention on Sunday morning. Some taking photos or waving at our camera as they were leaving church on Sunday.
For those who live in Sanford, they said they just want their community to be safe.
"Because they're not just infecting their community, they're infecting Sanford as a community," Marchand said.
According to the Maine CDC there are at least five confirmed cases of COVID-19 affiliated with this church. Officials at the CDC say they are investigating.