Being the Church During a Pandemic

This was shared with me by Mary Beth Cotham:

In the News

When we at The Wired Word started talking about possible topics for this week's lesson, there was no question that even though we've already provided two lessons related to the coronavirus crisis (the first lesson for the February 16 TWW installment and the second lesson for the March 8 installment), that we needed to address it again this week. 

So we decided to write about how churches are responding to the efforts to slow the spread of the disease. That decision was made just three days before writing this lesson (on Tuesday).

But what we didn't realize at the time was how fast some of what churches decided to do would need to be revised as the governments of our states and our nation issued new guidelines and imposed new restrictions that had seemed almost unthinkable just days earlier.

What happened in the Episcopal Diocese of Albany (New York) is an example of how fast decisions about how the church should respond have had to be rethought. In an email message sent on March 13, Bishop William H. Love, the diocesan leader, informed the clergy and laypeople of the diocese that while "a few" other dioceses had decided to cancel all their Sunday services, he had chosen not to do that, at least not yet. 

Instead, he issued instructions to minimize person-to-person contact during worship services. One concerned changes in how communion should be served. "The wine consecrated at Holy Communion will be consumed by the celebrant only," the bishop said, rather than by each worshiper from a common cup, which is standard Episcopal practice.

Communion was to be administered from the aisle, not the altar rail "to do away with the need for multiple people touching the altar rail one after another while kneeling side by side," the bishop said. 

But just four days later, Bishop Love sent a second email message, stating that due to new guidelines from President Trump to avoid gatherings of 10 or more people, he was suspending all regular Sunday and weekday services through the end of March.

That suspension is to apply even to funerals, which are to be limited in attendance to immediate family members. The bishop recommended that a larger memorial service honoring the life of the departed member be scheduled once the suspension is lifted.

It seems likely that given the guidelines from the White House, many other churches, as well as houses of worship from other religions, will make similar decisions before this Sunday or the day they would normally gather for worship.

Part of the difficulty is that the guidelines for minimizing the health risk from the coronavirus continue to evolve. Pastor Linda Stephan of Williamston United Methodist Church in Williamston, Michigan, recently proposed a hybrid service where healthy members could attend in person, and others could attend via a livestream.

But already that plan has been scuttled. She has now arranged to stream her sermon on Facebook Live. Stephan is certain that for a church, "gathering matters," but she understands that these are not ordinary times. 

She also sees the importance of her role as a faith leader in this crisis, which is unprecedented in lifetimes of people today. 

"I am also grateful that I'm in the place that I'm at, and hopefully [will] be a calming presence to my people and also a bold leader, and to make some good decisions, not just for my church community, but for everyone," Stephan said. 

Lest we increase fear, we should also report some "good news" about the disease itself. The first epidemiological studies are beginning to be published. One study preprint (see  the "Estimating the Infection and Case Fatality …" link in the list below) was of the cruise ship Diamond Princess, where over 3,700 passengers and crew were exposed to the coronavirus in Hong Kong prior to sailing to Yokohama. During most of the voyage, things proceeded with normal social interactions in a confined space. There was no isolation (confining a diseased person) or quarantine (restricting those known to be exposed).  

Once in Japan, the ship was quarantined for 14 days and approximately 3,100 of those on board were tested for the virus. Although conditions were favorable for the spread of the disease prior to knowledge of it onboard, only 17 percent tested positive -- and over half of those showed no symptoms. Seven people died, six of the 1,015 passengers aged 70-79 and one of the 216 aged 80-89. Although this is a small sample, this indicates that the quarantine and restrictions currently in effect are likely to greatly reduce the spread of the disease and, as long as the rates remain low and medical facilities are not overwhelmed, almost everyone who contracts the disease will survive. As some people have noted, we should be concerned and careful, but not fearful or hysterical.  

The calming-presence role for religious leaders that Stephan mentioned cannot be overstated. Nor should their role as Bible teachers and Christian theologians. The Bible and Christian theology provide a solid rock on which to stand during difficult times.

God is with us.