Some Charlotte churches welcome worshipers back – with COVID-19 restrictions
A handful of Charlotte churches have resumed letting people attend services in their worship halls during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The churches, all Catholic, are letting worshipers in again under Gov. Roy Cooper’s Phase 2 reopening of the state that began at 5 p.m. Friday, May 22.
Bishop Peter Jugis had earlier left it to the discretion of each pastor whether to reopen services to the flock while complying with government COVID-19 health and safety mandates for indoor gatherings.
Each church is limiting the number of people inside, regularly disinfecting pews and other areas and taking other measures to prevent spread of the new coronavirus, according to their websites.
“Masses are now open to the public, following requirements,” St. Mark Catholic Church in Huntersville proclaimed online before resuming services Memorial Day weekend.
Masks encouraged
St. Mark leaders encourage parishioners to wear masks and take lawn chairs in case the indoor crowd reaches its limit. Speakers broadcast the service to those sitting outside.
St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Charlotte had 50 households signed up for each Mass last weekend, according to a church YouTube video that explained the social distancing and other measures the church enacted before opening to worshipers.
Hand sanitizer is now available at the entrances, and the church is being disinfected between Masses.
At each service, one row, i.e. one family, at a time is permitted to leave their pew to receive Holy Communion. Those who didn’t plan to receive Communion are asked to go up anyway, so the others won’t have to squeeze by them returning to their seats, according to the church video.
The communion rail is sanitized between each family. If the priest accidentally touches a communicant’s hand or tongue, he immediately applies disinfectant to his hand, according to the video.
St. Peter Catholic Church in uptown announced it will resume 11:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Sunday Masses May 31 but at 25% capacity. Members should wear a cloth face covering and take their own hand sanitizer to Mass, leaders recommended in a post.
President Trump: Churches ‘essential’
In a tweet Friday, May 22, President Donald Trump identified houses of worship as “essential places that provide essential services.”
He called on governors to allow churches and other places of worship “to open right now,” according to his tweet.
But the ongoing risk of worshiping together during the pandemic hit home at a small South Carolina church Sunday.
First Baptist Church of North, S.C., posted on Facebook that about 40 worshipers Sunday were exposed to someone who has since tested positive for COVID-19, The (Columbia) State reported.
The vast majority of Charlotte area churches, and Charlotte’s Temple Beth El and Temple Israel synagogues, are continuing to worship online-only because of the ongoing pandemic.
The Observer checked this week with 13 non-Catholic places of worship in Charlotte, and all reported plans to continue holding only virtual services indefinitely.
Leaders of Charlotte area United Methodist churches, for instance, said they are following the lead of their bishop in not allowing indoor worship at least through June.
UMC churches are encouraged to continue hosting “online, drive-in and outdoor worship services while following CDC & state guidelines and observing physical distancing rules,” according to a post by the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church.
Challenges of worship during COVID-19
In an online message to members May 20, Myers Park Presbyterian Pastor Joe Clifford said worship will remain virtual “for the foreseeable future.”
Leaders of the church reached the decision after consulting their medical advisory team and recognizing “the conditions under which we would need to worship (with masks, no singing, socially distanced, limited capacity, etc.),” Clifford posted.
The church’s Worship Council of Session will revisit the issue monthly, he said.
At Covenant Presbyterian on East Morehead Street, a re-opening task force appointed by the church elders continues to meet multiple times a week, the Rev. Bob Henderson, senior minister, posted Wednesday.
While Sunday worship remains virtual, “I would remind us all that Covenant Presbyterian Church is very much open,” Henderson said.
He mentioned how year-to-date giving through April is up compared with the past five years. How funeral services, youth groups, Sunday School classes and mid-week studies and worship services continue. And how many members have found new ways to serve others.
“It makes me miss you all the more,” Henderson said. “For now, let me just say thank you very, very much.”
‘God is with us wherever we are’
In his sermon Sunday, Myers Park Baptist senior minister Benjamin Boswell reminded members that “God is with us wherever we are.”
Myers Park Baptist services also remain online indefinitely.
“We do not need a sanctuary because God does not live in shrines made by human hands,” Boswell said.
“Even if we can not be together physically, we still march on in our journey of faith as a community of life because we are united by love and by the power of the Holy Spirit,” he said.