No in person worship... Again

[Tim Bonney]

We had in person worship for two weeks, based on a two week decline in Covid numbers. But in the last 10 days we have had a huge spike in numbers in our county moving from under 30 cases to almost 90 cases.

Is your church meeting in person? If so, how is that going?

[William Thornton]

We have been for about a month. I haven’t been.

[Tim Bonney]

[Neil Heath]

Our church has chosen to remain with online services until Sept. with the rising # of cases in Ga. They will evaluate then, and perhaps begin outdoor services in our beautiful amphitheater.

A friend who's a music minister says his group of peers doesn't see choirs happening before Easter.

[Dave Roberts]

This is one of the struggles like few others I have seen for churches. No matter which way a decision goes, it is difficult to know what is the fully wise decision. I think your church is deciding well. Each change in the "on-the-ground" situation means that we need to be open to changing our directions rapidly and in keeping with the flow of information. This disease is one that has few precedents in our previous comparisons.

[Haruo]

We're doing both. Attendance is good. We had 27 last Sunday in the live service, which is both about what we had before March and about the maximum we can properly maintain social distancing for in the sanctuary, plus another ten or so on Zoom.

[Joseph Patrick]

From Gerry Milligan...I have decided to wait for an effective vaccine. We tried a small group (less than 12) Bible study this week. Chairs were socially distanced and everyone wore their mask. But once it was over people congregated. I told my wife that I would return following the availability of an effective vaccine.

[Tim Bonney]

[linda]

Wondering how everyone is doing now in October? Our county of about 40,000 people, as of last Friday, was right at 1400 cases ytd and 22 deaths. We are having an average of about 50 cases a day it seems. Our icu and hospital are over full (5 icu beds I hear, 16 covid beds, last I heard 31 covid patients seeking treatment.) We ship them out when we can find a slot but the towns around can't take more, and the big cities in the region are not always accepting new patients. Not just covid, anything. Stroke, heart attack, anything.

But the churches here are pretty much back to meeting with a few notable exceptions. Most refuse to push face masks and distancing properly, so several churches have had outbreaks. Grade schools are in person full time, older kids on hybrid mode.

As you might guess we are staying home until there is either and effective vaccine or it runs its course and decreases dramatically. Thankfully unlike most towns around us, the nearest one to us does curbside pickup of food and most supplies. We are trying for no more than 4 times a year for that until the pandemic eases. Non perishables are shipped to the house. Just hope we can find a dr who will do telemed when rx's need refilling in mid winter.

But God is good All THE TIME!

[Tim Bonney]

Linda,

We have two church services in person. One, until the last couple of weeks was outside with social distancing and masks encouraged. The other is in the sanctuary with social distancing and masks required. More than 1/2 my congregation is watching worship online rather than coming in person.

Now that the weather is getting cold in Iowa we have moved the outside service into our Parish Hall so that we don't have two services in the same room close together.

It is working but it is a lot of work to create video every way and two services in two locations. It is not nearly as fun to worship masked without singing. So I can certainly understand why a lot of people prefer to stay home and watching. Honestly if I were a lay person that is what I'd do.

While we do all this cases are still very high in Iowa. We are in the top 10 of states with Covid spread.

[William Thornton]

My church has indoor, in person church for several months now. We don’t attend but have been attending a pen outdoor, spaced out service at a nearby larger church that has a school and an open, roofed pavilion. Has their own music team but pastor is on screen live from the indoor counterpart of the church.

I’m more wary and careful about things now than I was back in the summer. No way I’m going to indoor church For an hour of singing, preaching, and hugging with mostly massless attendees.

[linda]

I should have said we are in south central Missouri, a state that is also trending in the wrong direction with rising cases and hospitalizations. And a governor that does not believe in mandates despite having had covid19 himself. Our county positivity rate has hovered right around 40% lately according to the newspaper.

Also we are in an area rather saturated with folks that are ardently anti science. They deny climate change is happening (not disagree with is it man made or how to handle it), are very young earth (I try to avoid that. Grew up with geology as dinner table conversation. Nuff said.), are anti vaxxers (oh please, sigh) and so as you can guess, going out wearing a mask is a risk of being harassed or worse. When our town debated a mask mandate (did not issue it) our pastor went public that he was adamantly NOT going to require them in church, or stop singing. The building is pretty small and poorly ventilated and he does preach loudly. Those all contribute to our not going.

AS of last night's numbers 1 in 27 in our county have tested positive, 1 in just over 1700 have died from it.

We have family involved in front line medicine through the pandemic. Their state has a mask mandate, they require social distancing, and the local county health had to sign off on the school's plans. Some schools are in person, some online only, some hybrid depending on their district meeting those cdc guidelines as to rates, etc. They are about 1/3 our population, but have had around 30 cases. If we had their rate, we would only have 90, not 1457, cases. They have had no deaths, despite being an older population. Medics think that is because if you catch it while masked you likely get a lighter viral load exposure, and that can mean a milder case.

On the up side, one church did outside in your car only during hot weather, now is doing inside BUT also airing the service on the radio and encouraging folks to stay home and do that if in any way at risk. Several are using facebook live to show the services. Our church does that, and that shows that probably around 12 people seem to be attending regularly. A few have suspended meeting BUT have very active phone check ins with members, on line sermons, and gotten very very active safely meeting the food, power, wood (lots heat with it here), diaper, etc needs of the community folks.

But there is another positive, and it is HUGE! Friends and neighbors who either do not know the Lord as Savior or who have not walked with Him in a very long time are asking about Him, asking for prayer, interested in the Bible and what it teaches, etc. So even staying isolated and safe a person can still have a witness for Christ, and still be about the business of evangelizing the lost.

So church here is very different than it was pre pandemic, but while some of that is not good there is a lot of good happening because of the pandemic. Different doesn't always equal bad.

Which has me wondering how folks are doing around the country. Thanks to all who reply--I know this time is very stressful for some, very busy for others, and very strange for us all.

[Dave Roberts]

Thanks, Linda, for asking about how most of us are doing. I am in Southside Virginia in a small county that is either leading or in second place for the number of Covid cases per 100,000 population (a total of more than 1,000 positive cases in a county area of fewer than 20,000 people). I saw my cardiologist last week who told me bluntly to stay away from the Y and anything that produces a crowd. Haven't been to an in-person worship since March. I miss it, but I have been blessed by listening to First Baptist in Richmond that is on TV each Sunday, joining the Livestream from the church in NC where our son is associate pastor, worshipping by Livestream with the church where I was interim pastor for the past two and one-half years, occasionally joining a church where a friend serves in Florida, and watching a few services where I last a short time before I begin to hear things that the Bible does not support or political drivel made into a sermon. Life goes on, and we have to keep moving with it.