How is your church adapting for COVID-19?

I'm in Spain and we've decided to suspend all on-site and off-site meetings. We're looking at live streaming sermon and worship, although not quite there yet, so my sermon will be recorded tomorrow and hopefully uploaded for viewing by the congregation for Sunday morning. 

I’m from the Netherlands and our national government announced yesterday (12 march) that all gatherings above 100 persons are suspended until the end of march. Most of the national churches advised their local congregations to follow the official guidelines and ban all church services until the end of march. My local church accepted this guideline and suspended all services until the end of march. Until then their will be a live stream/recording each Sunday morning and evening with some music by the organ, prayer and a sermon. Also, all universities suspended classes, so until the end of march there will also be no lectures for theology students.

I just got back from Rome 6 days ago, (and it was magnificent because no one was there--so I had an hour alone with 5 Japanese Christians in the Sistine Chapel last Thursday, but I digress), but in response, we are cancelling live services and streaming it instead. 

Here are a few things that might help:

1)  We'll be handing out E-collars to all worshipers ...

    (unfortunately, communion becomes problematic)  [;)]

2)  Worldly advice:  When in trouble, when in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout.  [;)]

3)  Biblical advice:  “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him."   Job 13:15a  and, “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?"  Mt 6:27 [:D]

Our congregation is very small.  We had intended to hold services as usual this coming Sunday, and simply ask anyone who had been exposed to the virus to stay home.  However, late this afternoon we learned of a member who is exhibiting symptoms consistent with the coronavirus, and who tested negative for the flu.  He has been tested for COVID-19 but the results are not expected back until early next week.  In response, we've cancelled Sunday's service and are replacing it with a devotional by conference call.  We'll reevaluate what to do going forward next week.

The church that I worship at is so far still planning to continue with our multiple services, however, our online service is being heavily encouraged. Communication has been increased via email. We already do not "pass the bucket" so the options of tithing is really not a big deal. My pastor did originally consider having a service on Monday morning for the elderly, but this has changed to encourage them to watch online. We are also increasing the sanitizing of the church building & creating sanitizing stations throughout the heavily trafficked areas. Our kids' area got a very healthy dose of Lysol very recently.   

Daniel Di Bartolo said:

I'd love to hear about how you plan to manage church operations, teach the Bible, and keep your people safe.

I am part of the group tasked with making these guidelines at our church in the Texas panhandle (where we have no confirmed cases yet). We meet tomorrow to set the formal guidelines. While not officially approved yet, these are some of the things we are recommending (not exhaustive list yet):

1. Cancel all non-Sunday worship activities (AWANAs, choir, Wednesday night events, etc.), effective immediately.

2. Cancel Sunday School, effective immediately.

3. Cancel Sunday night activities, effective immediately.

4. Continue Sunday morning worship with modifications.

              a. discontinue meet-and-greet or modify it to waving at others

              b. discontinue passing the collection plates (have ushers hold them at doors)

              c. remove pew bibles and hymnals along with any other paper materials for the time being

              d. announce ‘social distance’ guidelines at beginning of service (spread out, no touching, etc.)

              e. provide hand sanitizer (if it is available!) at each entrance and encourage its use

5. Make sure the janitorial staff has CDC-recommended cleaning procedures and follows them using recommended products. This would especially include disinfecting surfaces such as doors, pew arms and pew backs, light switches, water fountains, bathroom surfaces, and so on.

6. Consider a tight restriction of the CLC patrons to a particular area of the building and close off this space on Sundays.

7. Remind everyone each meeting to please stay home if you are ill, if you have been exposed to someone known to be ill, or have traveled outside the area recently.

8. Remind members that if they are not comfortable with the public gathering they can remain at home and can access the sermons on the church’s website. Ask church members who plan not to attend to please let the church office know.

9. Instruct (and train) the security committee to discourage members or visitors from entering the building if they are obviously ill. They should be stationed at each entrance before each service.

10. Ask the deacons to consider contacting church members who are self-isolating to see about spiritual and physical needs.

11. Ask the church to pray for their community and those affected by the pandemic.

12. Small groups may meet at their discretion, but are not meeting as a formal part of the church program. (In other words, we can’t and shouldn’t try to prevent members from meeting privately but should state that this is not a part of the church’s operations at this time.)

13. Begin to prepare a response protocol in the case the virus becomes a local epidemic and there are numerous serious illnesses or deaths within the membership or the local community, including assisting other denominations/churches in the area.

14. Stay in active contact with the local health department and monitor CDC releases as well as state-of-emergency instructions and orders.

If governmental authorities move to restrict public gatherings, the church should comply within reason.

The pastor should talk about the church’s historical response to events like this and how we can be a proactive part of loving our neighbor by participating in protective measures along with staying in contact so we can assist those with needs.

I'm in Brazil. Some locations with more cases are restricting public gatherings (with some churchs transmiting the services in Facebook), but for now is not our case.
We are a small congregation (around 40), and this week the sunday services will happen normally.
But we are thinking about the next weeks.

We have several thousand that gather each week at our church, so we are decentralizing on campus. Rooms with no more than 250 persons in them and the service will be live in our main sanctuary and live-streamed to the extension rooms. It displaces our youth service, but we will have that in another room to make way for adult services.

We are making changes as the situation changes and communicating via social media, email, phones calls, and texts to volunteers and other church leaders who can relay the word to their circles. We have increased our cleaning protocols. We're located in Southern California, but have not had any cases in our county, so we are trying to be cautious without shutting too many things down. All other meetings, events, and gatherings at the church have been canceled until further notice.

We are preparing for tighter restrictions to go online-only or in small home groups potentially. I personally think online-only is not a comprehensive long-term plan, so our pastoral staff is working to get our plans in place should this stretch into weeks or months. I am the Youth Pastor at my church. I greatly appreciate the info shared here and will pass it along!   

In other related news... I have found it fascinating to read Martin Luther's "Whether One May Flee from a Deadly Plague (1527)" from Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings. He's surprisingly relevant in his mention of quarantine, pastoral responsibility, cleanliness (considering his time period, of course), and even-handedness between practicality and spirituality.

Also, I recently read Stark's "Rise of Christianity" (not in Logos) and it had a chapter detailing the Christian response to the decimating smallpox outbreaks in second-century Rome. You can read (Chapter 4) it in the preview on Google Books. The church's self-sacrificing response is heroic. That chapter was based on an article he wrote in Semeia 56, “Epidemics, Networks, and the Rise of Christianity”.

I feel you Milkman! What’s wrong with people?!!! Makes you wonder if they’ve actually been washing their hands and wiping their butts before the coronavirus came along! I could actually understand if stores ran out of hand sanitizers, but toilet paper??? Really???  🧻 😂😂😂 What kind of upsets me about this is how ridiculous people get and how they don’t think about other people just themselves! Stores should have a policy that states only one pack of 36 roll of toilet paper per family like they do with the water when a hurricane is about to hit.  But oh well!

I love my bidet! And yes, I’m glad walmart still has toilet paper 👍😁👌

DAL

I've been convinced for a couple of weeks that trying to prevent this pandemic is going to be orders of magnitude worse that the pandemic itself. Whatever the severity of this in terms of deaths (lets just consider the US), whether it's just thousands dead or possibly hundreds of thousands dead...that outcome will be a blip on the agony scale compared to the deliberate destruction we are inflicting upon ourselves trying to "dodge the bullet". I fear the worldwide socio-economic destruction we are inflicting by shutting down all human society is going to be much, much, much worse than the Great Depression. The time to hunker down was in January--it's too late now. As I see it, trying to avoid the impact of this pandemic is like stepping off the sidewalk into the street, where trying to avoid a cyclist on sidewalk simply puts you in the immediate path of a Mack truck. Of the two, viral pandemic and economic cataclysm, the second EASILY has the capacity to be far more horrible and devastating. This thing could easily last through the end of the summer if not longer, and widespread hunger and riots in the streets could make the death toll from the virus seem quaint. I suppose it is possible that the government could tell people to "return to their normal activities" when those social fabric rendings begin to manifest, but at that point, we won't just have to contend with the disaster of an utterly spent health and medical system, we will be trying to do so while being eyeball-deep in the worst economically-spurred food and humanity crisis anyone has ever seen. The ONLY way we can recover from the terrible devastation of this pandemic is by having an economic engine that has been week-by-week deliberately tooling itself for that needed recovery...only that CAN NEVER HAPPEN, because we are already well into the process of disassembling the engine down to its component parts and in some cases we appear to be melting down some of the most important parts just because.

The best way to deal with the virus is to do what we do in the face of the flu virus...soldier on.

That said, it wouldn't hurt to wonder if this is a judgment of YHWH. I know both sides of the political spectrum in this country have pissed Him off...that ought to be painfully obvious. Remember how He ridicules those who try to hide in caves to avoid His reach? Yeah...that.

Here's to hoping I'm Chicken Little. [*-)]

PL said:

Friends,

How do you do Holy Communion when church has to be closed for an extended period of time?

Peter

Easy, buy unleavened bread (Mazzo) and grape juice so you can partake of communion at home.

DAL

Ps. You can read 1 Corinthians 11:23-29, then pray for the bread, eat it and then pray for the grape juice and drink it.  Have a short meditation on Jesus’s sacrifice for you and that should do it.

Steve Maling said:

Richard, many thanks for reporting your reading with links

You're Welcome!

PL said:

Friends,

How do you do Holy Communion when church has to be closed for an extended period of time?

Peter

I would agree with DAL. It's BYOB - Bring your own bread! Unless your tradition prohibits the laity from administering communion, families can partake in their homes or home groups. It could be facilitated by a minister online giving instruction and scripture reading, while families partake in their homes. Family members could be distributed online, email, etc, a devotional reading that could instruct them - I find most lay-persons are not practiced in administering the sacraments.  I am a bit of a non-traditionalist with communion, however, having administered it to students with welch's grape juice and sweet, Hawaiian bread. (YUM!) I've yet to use grape soda... So take my advice with caution... Ha!

David Paul said:

trying to prevent this pandemic is going to be orders of magnitude worse that the pandemic itself.

David, I would tend to agree with you... but am trying to be realistically optimistic. I think the societal reaction gives me greater concern than the actual disease, but then again, I am youngish, healthy, and have a fully functioning immune system. Calm is in order; may the Church lead the way in our tempered, faith-filled, and thoughtful reactions.

We had positive feedback today to our online streamed service. Obviously some learning points too, as it was our first ever. The greatest effort was in the video editing, as the sermon slides were integrated into the video of the preaching. We recorded yesterday and streamed from the time of our usual Sunday service.

Milkman said:

lol!

DAL said:

I feel you Milkman! What’s wrong with people?!!! Makes you wonder if they’ve actually been washing their hands and wiping their butts before the coronavirus came along! I could actually understand if stores ran out of hand sanitizers, but toilet paper??? Really???  🧻 😂😂😂 What kind of upsets me about this is how ridiculous people get and how they don’t think about other people just themselves! Stores should have a policy that states only one pack of 36 roll of toilet paper per family like they do with the water when a hurricane is about to hit.  But oh well!

I love my bidet! And yes, I’m glad walmart still has toilet paper 👍😁👌

DAL

I found this on Facebook:

Just a reminder. Even the CDC said to have 30 days of necessities on hand. Just in case.

Which means....

Unless you have a medical problem, no one goes through 240 rolls of TP in 30 days.

Unless you want to fill your bathtub with Purel, no one needs 5 liters of hand sanitizer for 30 days.

Unless you are setting up your own sterile laboratory with stage 3 quarantine protocols, you do not need 12 bottles of Lysol for 30-days.

Unless you are expecting you will be sick with a fever every day of the 30 days, and you will be around others during that entire time, and you replace your face mask once every 10 minutes, NO ONE needs 800 face masks for 30 days.

Unless you are babysitting 10 babies, no one needs over 50 packages of baby-wipes for 30 days.

Because...and hear this.

Others need toilet paper.
Others need hand sanitizer.
Others need lysol.
Others need baby-wipes.
Others, when they are sick and have to be out in public, need masks.

You are making yourself less safe by hoarding.
Because you are making it harder for others to be safe,
and to take reasonable precautions against disease.

Very straightforward! 👍😁👌

We are a small church (~50) in Vancouver, BC. We decided to have the service as usual yesterday morning, though people with respiratory symptoms or weakened immune systems were encouraged to stay home, we had hand sanitizer available at the entrance, and coffee/tea only (no food) after the service, and people were asked to avoid handshakes/hugs. In all 26 people showed up (I was away on a retreat, but I would have gone if I'd been in town). I heard it was a good service. As usual, the service was recorded on CD, and the sermon will be up on our website shortly. We're going to experiment with a live-streaming service soon.

The email that went around about the service going ahead sparked the first ever reply-all chain on our all-church email list. I'm guessing we'll be using email and phone calls more to keep in touch over the coming weeks. I'm also thinking of experimenting with some small group discussions using Zoom or some such. Problem is, many in our congregation are elderly and would probably struggle with the technology. I don't know how to help them not feel isolated, other than phone calls.

David Paul said:

The best way to deal with the virus is to do what we do in the face of the flu virus...soldier on.

Sadly it is far worse than the flu. OK the percentage of deaths may be as low as flu would be or it may be as high as 4 or 5 % of those who catch it. The experts disagree.

I was there with you before I spoke to a dear Christian friend of my wife and myself only 35 years old who is like a daughter to us.

She shared with me her history of Pneumonia and Bronchitis almost in tears. My views changed. This is highly likely to be a death sentence to her if she falls ill with the virus. That is not an exaggeration according to Doctor friends.

There are unlikely to be enough hi-tech hospital ‘Breathers’ available in any country once it really gets going so people will die who might have been saved. Maybe 20% of those who catch it will need hospitalisation which will need far more beds than are available. Believe me, it is not an easy death as it effectively shreds your lung tissue as you are dying.

Olli-Pekka Ylisuutari said:

Greetings from Finland Europe!

I have 3 baptism’s during the next three weeks 

I was taught that a baptism is the public announcement of a personal commitment.  So, imho, if it gets 'delayed' it is no big deal.  God already knows and He is the only one that counts.

Olli-Pekka Ylisuutari said:

I have one burial service during the next week.

I agree with your bishop. Simple service graveside now and memorial service latter.  The deceased would be horrified if some of their friends needlessly joined them in a couple of weeks. [[that is if the ground is not too solid]]

Olli-Pekka Ylisuutari said:

I have only one wedding during the next 4 weeks.

I have no answers for that one other than that you could marry them now in a very small private ceremony and have a BIG party latter with all the fixings. 

Best to you in your decision making.  [[and that goes to all the rest of you that have to make the hard decisions in these trying times]]

Wow you got your baptisms, burials and weddings planned ahead 😂 I guess people plan to die or they don‘t get buried right away when they do (like 3 days tops).

Not a theological discussion by the way, just mentioning what the Scriptures say, but Scriptures teach people were baptized immediately and didn’t have to wait or plan to get baptized later.  Read the book of Acts for Scriptural examples.  So it seems it wasn’t something that “it’s ok” to put off ‘til later it doesn’t matter what some are taught today.  Just saying...

Anyway, stay safe 👍😁👌

DAL

Our own diocesan policies are:

https://www.scd.org/coronavirus/holy-mass

Of course, with the heavy snowfall, I couldn’t get there safely anyway (I have a prosthetic leg and the snow was too deep for me to walk without falling)

MJ. Smith said:

David Ames said:

I was taught that a baptism is the public announcement of a personal commitment. 

This would not be the view of the poster. To put the issue in the framework of the original poster, see https://evl.fi/en/our-faith/what-we-believe/sacraments/baptism#bc8ca35c. Mind you the Evangelical Finnish Lutheran Church is basically an unknown to me - Apostolic Finnish Lutheran Church - a piestist movement church - is what I know.

Correct. For more info, see: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evangelical_Lutheran_Church_of_Finland

DAL said:

I guess people plan to die or they don‘t get buried right away when they do (like 3 days tops).

DAL

We live - normally - in a very cold country, way up in the north. No need for quick funerals here, as in the south (or in the Holy Land). Just a cultural difference, I think...

Lynden Williams said:

...we have been emphasizing… social distancing...

Our president of the Republic, mr. Sauli Niinistö, wisely said yesterday in a televized speech (my paraphrase of his thought): During these hard times we must not distance ourselves from each other socially or mentally, even though we need to do it physically…