When the Rev. Steve Warner welcomes parishioners back to Brockton Assembly of God this Sunday, pews will be roped off, masks will be required, and the hugs and high-fives that used to follow services will most definitely not be allowed.
“We’re not going to be irresponsible and try to pack a pew here,” Warner told the Herald. “We’ve vetted it carefully.”
Religious leaders across Massachusetts are preparing to welcome their faithful back into the fold after getting the green light from Gov. Charlie Baker to reopen their houses of worship.
But it appears Warner’s in-person Sunday services will be among the exceptions this weekend — not the norm — as faith leaders face a tough call between religious devotion and public health in a state still recording hundreds of new coronavirus cases a day.
“We are not ready to open,” said the Rev. Burns Stanfield, senior pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church in South Boston. “Without a doubt people are eager to get together. But we also know we’ve got to be safe.”
The governor’s announcement Monday that churches, mosques and synagogues would be allowed to resume in-person services as part of the first phase of the state’s coronavirus reopening plan caught some local faith leaders by surprise — and left many weighing how to proceed.
Warner was among the group of more than 260 pastors who sent a letter to the governor earlier this month petitioning churches to be included at the start of the reopening process. Baker also reportedly faced pressure from federal justice officials. And President Trump on Friday deemed churches and other religious sanctuaries “essential” and pushed governors to allow them to reopen.
Churches provide “an essential quality to our society and to our culture by offering hope and counsel,” Warner said. “That’s why we’re starting right away.”
Warner said Sunday’s two in-person services will be more of a “soft opening.” While the sanctuary can seat 600, the church will only allow about 200 people per service in adherence with the state’s 40% cap. Ushers will guide people to and from seats at least 6 feet apart. Pews will be sanitized between services. Child care will not be offered. Services will still stream online.
“We know we’re not going to get it perfect,” said Warner, adding that his wife had COVID-19. “But we wouldn’t get it perfectly even if we didn’t open for another three months.”
The Archdiocese of Boston said it expects most parishes will wait until the weekend of May 30 to resume in-person Mass. Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley urged the elderly and those most at risk for COVID-19 to continue to watch services from their homes, a recommendation echoed by both the governor and Mayor Martin Walsh.
Many members of the Massachusetts Council of Churches will also forgo opening this weekend, Executive Director Rev. Laura Everett said. Some leaders don’t plan on resuming in-person services until the summer, while others want to wait until there’s a vaccine.
“The reality is that the safety concerns and the logistical hurdles are massive,” Everett said. “Nobody wants their church to be a source of sickness.”
Jeremy Burton, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston, said many rabbis are waiting to resume in-person services until their congregants can safely worship as one.
“I would imagine for many you’re going to see (closures) stretching at least into summer,” he said. “Many are still talking about preparing to go virtual for the High Holiday services in September.”
The state’s largest mosque, the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center, will mark the end of Ramadan this weekend with a car parade rather than an in-person celebration.
“We took the tough decision,” said Amr Elfass, ISBCC’s project management office director. “There’s a pressure from the community that we need to open and pray at the mosque. However, we decided not to go to this route for the safety of the community.”
