Churches’ Reopening Approaches

By Olivia McFall 

Photos by Alexis Travino and Aubrey McMeen, respectively

On May 22nd, 2020, President Trump declared that churches were essential and could re-open immediately, however many different churches are taking various approaches this process in order to maintain health precautions. The CDC published their suggested guidance for communities of faith. Their guidelines include wearing masks, washing your hands, disinfecting frequently touched surfaces (especially between services), promoting social distancing during services, and limiting the number of people at other church related gatherings. They also address minimizing the sharing of worship materials such as prayer books and communion, educating staff on the safety measures, and how to respond if a member of the congregation does become sick.

On May 27th Governor Jay Inslee announced Washington's guidelines for churches reopening. These guidelines include following the social distancing procedures and safety precautions as described above. Inslee also announced that counties that are in phase two may have indoor religious gatherings of up to 50 people, multiple times a day if needed. He recommended that congregations keep a voluntary log of the people who attend each week so that if a member gets the virus, anyone who has been around them will be informed and able to protect themselves. In response to this, many churches are getting creative with their activities. 

Some churches, such as the Holy Trinity are continuing to stream their services online. 

Other groups are worshiping privately at home. For example some Buddhists have set up Buddha statues in their own homes to pray to. Meanwhile the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- Day Saints have a program called “ministering families” where each family in the church is assigned another to check up on.

Still some have taken the next step towards reopening and begun to meet in larger groups while implementing social distancing. Hosting drive in services has become common. A member of Faith Fellowship confirmed this is the path her church is taking. Manette Community Church started holding services of up to 50 people with the conditions of wearing masks and sitting six feet apart. As well as this, attendees are escorted to their seats and the services are shorter. 

Some larger churches have held off on resuming in-person sunday morning services but have re-started youth group activities. For example, Gracepoint church held a worship night for middle and high schoolers with chairs set up six feet apart and masks required for entrance. They will continue this process as they hold youth groups throughout the summer. 

Personally, as a member of this church, the events feel much different. It is hard to recognize people and to hear each other's voices through masks. There were times during one of these youth nights that I felt dizzy from singing through a mask. Despite these drawbacks, it was encouraging to sing out praises to God. Although being together may look different and mean various things to different churches, communities of faith are finding ways to stay connected and support each-other through this challenging time.