Saying “we will not get through this mess without the blessing of God,” U.S. Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) told a conservative radio host Thursday that he will apparently defy Gov. Jared Polis’ (D-CO) orders and go to church May 3, one week from this coming Sunday.

“We don’t get through this without prayer,” Buck told conservative KOA radio host Mandy Connell Thursday. “And that’s something that I think a lot of our leaders miss, that we can have the best medical technology possible, but without the blessing of God, we will not get through this mess.”

“And we need to get back to our churches and make sure that we pray as a group,” continued Buck, saying, “I don’t care if I have to wear a SCUBA outfit to my church, I’m going to church on May 3rd.”

Polis issued revised orders this week that relaxed his previous stay-at-home order, but his rules still prohibit gatherings of more than 10 people.

Buck did not return a call seeking to know if he’d talked to health experts about his plan to attend church–and for details about the size, location, and social-distancing practices of his church congregation.

Much of Buck’s district covers Weld County, which has suffered the third most COVID-19 deaths among Colorado counties, but 9News reported yesterday that Weld County Commissioners also plan to defy Polis’ order, giving more businesses the option of opening on Monday, if they follow social-distancing guidelines.

But Weld County will continue to prohibit gatherings of more than 10 people, which would presumably include Buck’s church.

The virus is known to spread when people congregate, whether it be at churches or baseball games.

After leaders of one church told California health officials to leave them alone, the officials reported that at least 70 members of the congregation became infected with COVID-19.

But stories like that, which are easily found online, apparently don’t matter to Buck.

“I think people need to start stepping up and saying, ‘You know what? We need to open churches on May 3rd.’ It’s not good enough to say, ‘at some point in the future we’re going to open churches.’ The National Day of Prayer is the following week. It is time.”

Buck, who’s said it was crazy to close restaurants and has voted multiple times against federal legislation for COVID-19 relief, also told KOA that he continues to disagree with directives to wear masks.

Buck bragged last week about his plans to fly maskless on an airplane to Washington D.C..

And on Connell’s show, he ridiculed his fellow Congressman for their sloppy mask-wearing.

CONNELL: Is everyone masked on the floor? Are they wearing masks?

BUCK:  They’re wearing masks, and when they go to the microphone, they take their masks off. Yeah, it’s surreal. It is absolutely surreal!

MANDY:  So, wait. Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. So, they’re wearing masks while they’re standing apart. But then when they walk up to the microphone the everybody else has spit on, then they’re taking their mask off.  Am I to understand what you just said?  

BUCK:  You are absolutely correct, yes.  And it makes no sense. 

MANDY:  All right. 

BUCK:  And what happens is, everybody gets off the floor and they mingle with each other, so it’s not like the mask makes any difference.