Under NC’s Phase 3, more houses of worship are open for services — with restrictions
As North Carolina moves to Phase 3 of Gov. Roy Cooper’s reopening plan this weekend, more houses of worship are opening for restricted in-person gatherings.
“There’s a mix of excited and anxious” among the congregation at White Memorial Presbyterian Church in Raleigh, executive director Andrew Amodei said Friday. The church will hold its first in-person services Sunday morning since it closed down its campus in March, more than six months ago.
The church is following guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, the governor’s office and other sources, Amodei said, to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19.
Amodei said White Memorial will use an online registration system that was developed for entertainment venues but has been adapted for churches. Sanctuary seating will be assigned by family group, and the system automatically builds in social-distancing space between other people in attendance.
Using the system, Amodei said he expects attendance at the two services to be well below the 30 percent of capacity suggested by the state in an update posted Friday. White Memorial’s sanctuary can accommodate 500 people; 80 or fewer congregants are expected to attend each service on Sunday. Next week, he said, the church plans to add a third in-person worship service.
The update from the state recommends that places of worship continue to meet online or outside if possible. If in-person services are held, NCDHHS recommends limiting gatherings to the lesser of 30 percent occupancy or 100 people.
“While the pandemic is global, the way we slow the spread of this virus is local, through on-the-ground action and shared responsibility. This new toolkit helps clergy of all faiths to double down on their efforts to protect our communities as we navigate this unprecedented time,” Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of DHHS, said in the update. The notice included a link for a list of ways faith leaders can help keep COVID-19 numbers down.
For now, no singing
Each person attending White Memorial’s in-person services Sunday will be required to wear a mask, will be given instructions on where to enter and exit, and will be expected to abide by all standard safety measures. There will be no congregational singing, Amodei noted. For now, no refreshments will be served on campus.
Even with the restrictions, he said, some church members have been “clamoring” to restart in-person worship and the church has been working through the summer to be ready as soon as the state moved to Phase 3. Amodei said the church has invested in recent months in an ionized plasma filtration system that scrubs the air as it recirculates through buildings.
As soon as Cooper announced the move to Phase 3, Amodei said, church officials activated their plan to come back in person and sent out announcements to members.
Much of the congregation will continue to worship online only, Amodei said. But those who want to come back have eagerly awaited this day.
“The primary reason is they need one another,” Amodei said. “They really miss one another. They need community.”
The few times church members have come onto the church campus in recent months, Amodei said, “It’s been a very surreal and emotional reaction. We should all be yearning for one another in that way.”
When North Carolina first instituted restrictions to try to limit the spread of COVID-19, some churches complained they were being treated unfairly, noting that big-box stores were drawing larger crowds than would have been seen in some church sanctuaries. After a group of churches filed a lawsuit, a judge found in May that the rules were unfair and Cooper declined to appeal.
A small number of churches began holding in-person services then. Mainline Christian denominations advised their congregations to continue to worship online-only until case numbers and infection rates significantly improved.
In the Triangle area, some churches, mosques and synagogues reopened over the summer for limited prayer times or to allow community-aid ministries to operate.
Gatherings still limited
The exception for church worship that took effect in May also applied to funeral and wedding ceremonies and other activities related to First Amendment rights. But while mass gathering rules did not apply to the services, they did apply to receptions and visitations before and after weddings and funerals.
Under Phase 3, most gatherings still are limited to 25 people indoors and 50 people outdoors.
Zebulon United Methodist Church began holding limited in-person worship services in August, Pastor Liz Hounshell said.
Hounshell, who joined the church as pastor in June, said about 25 people have been attending in person, sitting far apart and practicing safety precautions. Services still are shared online and the live service uses recorded musical segments.
Like every other segment of society, churches are taking small steps toward “normal” operations. This weekend, the congregation will celebrate World Communion Sunday by taking communion outside after the service. Participants will get prepackaged elements bought from a church supply house: a plastic-wrapped wafer and a cup of grape juice with a foil seal.
Next up? Hounshell is ready to hear the congregation make a joyful noise.
“I think everybody is looking forward to being able to sing in the sanctuary again,” she said.
This story was originally published October 3, 2020 at 8:00 AM with the headline "Under NC’s Phase 3, more houses of worship are open for services — with restrictions."
