GO3838
Well-Known Member
So I went to a United Church yesterday - one of the few that was open for face-to-face worship on Sunday, June 28th. (Note: this church had submitted their reopening plan to their region, and had received approval to open.)
This was my first face-to-face worship in a church since mid-March.
I wanted to share what worked and what didn't, as some of you may be wrestling with how churches can re-open.
So I was greeted outside on the sidewalk before walking in to the church. The usher had a bottle of hand sanitizer (optional.)
I had brought my mask with me, as I saw on their website the day before that worshippers were required to wear masks or face shields.
The usher told me to sit at any pew where there was not an "X", so I donned my mask, and in I went, and selected a non'"X" pew.
(Memo to self: when my church reopens in Sept, suggest to them that we should mark where we CAN sit, not where we CAN'T. I don't let seeing pews with "X"
on them. I would rather see pews with... rainbows, maybe? the word "welcome" in a colourful dot? Much more cheerful, and looks more welcoming.)
Without a doubt, the highlight of the service was the music. We were told that we could hum the hymns behind our masks. So we did. All the hymns were played on the piano,
so we could hear the humming. (I doubt we would have heard the humming if they were played on the organ.) The humming was beautiful. I knew I'd missed singing in church, but I had no idea how much until that moment. If anyone had told me six months ago that 20 people wearing cloth and paper masks would all be humming "Immortal, Invisible God Only Wise"
I would have thought that a bizarre image, maybe from a parallel universe or the Twilight Zone. But it was beautiful, and uplifting.
One lowlight to pass on; something to think about. During the sermon, I was passed a clipboard. The note on it said "Please write down your name and phone number for contact tracing, in case needed." Now I have no objection to leaving my name and number for contact tracing. However, there were no other names or numbers on the clipboard. Since I was a visitor, they assumed that if there were going to be any COVID-19 spread from this gathering, then it must come from me. The implication was that I, an unknown alien to this congregation, was of much higher risk to infect others than the members of this congregation. I signed the clipboard without comment, and handed it back, but I felt very unwelcome at that point.
Memo to self: it's a good idea to record the names of those who attend a face-to-face worship service for contact tracing. But that means that everyone's name should be recorded, and there should be transparency about it. The truth is that anyone -member or adherent or visitor - could be a carrier, and could spread the virus (although unlikely when we're physically distanced, and all wearing masks.) The ushers could record the names of people who attend the service as they walk in the doors. (And most will likely know most of the people who attend, and so may not need to ask a lot of people their names. But then the visitor sees that everyone's name is being recorded for contact tracing. I think that's much better than passing a clipboard to a visitor during the sermon, where they see no other names on the clipboard, and realize they they are "the alien" in the pews.
Anyway, those are my reflections from my first face-to-face worship in the era of COVID-19.
This was my first face-to-face worship in a church since mid-March.
I wanted to share what worked and what didn't, as some of you may be wrestling with how churches can re-open.
So I was greeted outside on the sidewalk before walking in to the church. The usher had a bottle of hand sanitizer (optional.)
I had brought my mask with me, as I saw on their website the day before that worshippers were required to wear masks or face shields.
The usher told me to sit at any pew where there was not an "X", so I donned my mask, and in I went, and selected a non'"X" pew.
(Memo to self: when my church reopens in Sept, suggest to them that we should mark where we CAN sit, not where we CAN'T. I don't let seeing pews with "X"
on them. I would rather see pews with... rainbows, maybe? the word "welcome" in a colourful dot? Much more cheerful, and looks more welcoming.)
Without a doubt, the highlight of the service was the music. We were told that we could hum the hymns behind our masks. So we did. All the hymns were played on the piano,
so we could hear the humming. (I doubt we would have heard the humming if they were played on the organ.) The humming was beautiful. I knew I'd missed singing in church, but I had no idea how much until that moment. If anyone had told me six months ago that 20 people wearing cloth and paper masks would all be humming "Immortal, Invisible God Only Wise"
I would have thought that a bizarre image, maybe from a parallel universe or the Twilight Zone. But it was beautiful, and uplifting.
One lowlight to pass on; something to think about. During the sermon, I was passed a clipboard. The note on it said "Please write down your name and phone number for contact tracing, in case needed." Now I have no objection to leaving my name and number for contact tracing. However, there were no other names or numbers on the clipboard. Since I was a visitor, they assumed that if there were going to be any COVID-19 spread from this gathering, then it must come from me. The implication was that I, an unknown alien to this congregation, was of much higher risk to infect others than the members of this congregation. I signed the clipboard without comment, and handed it back, but I felt very unwelcome at that point.
Memo to self: it's a good idea to record the names of those who attend a face-to-face worship service for contact tracing. But that means that everyone's name should be recorded, and there should be transparency about it. The truth is that anyone -member or adherent or visitor - could be a carrier, and could spread the virus (although unlikely when we're physically distanced, and all wearing masks.) The ushers could record the names of people who attend the service as they walk in the doors. (And most will likely know most of the people who attend, and so may not need to ask a lot of people their names. But then the visitor sees that everyone's name is being recorded for contact tracing. I think that's much better than passing a clipboard to a visitor during the sermon, where they see no other names on the clipboard, and realize they they are "the alien" in the pews.
Anyway, those are my reflections from my first face-to-face worship in the era of COVID-19.