It has been a few weeks since many local places of worship could reopened under directed health measures.
One local church has opted to remain closed. St. Francis Episcopal Church in Scottsbluff closed its doors to in-person prayer services shortly before Easter, as most churches did. Unlike other churches, though, it remained closed through the rest of spring and entire summer.
“It’s partly because we are part of a diocese, and the bishop made the decision that the whole diocese was going to follow the same directives. ... Nobody gets to get together until after July 25,” said Fr. Mark Selvey, head rector. “Now, it’s up to the parishes to track local numbers.”
Selvey said that if their case numbers trend down in the counties their parish serves for two weeks, then the bishop will give the OK to reopen.
St. Francis’s approach lies at the opposite end of the spectrum from other local churches like, Mitchell Berean, which opened back up as soon as the governor gave the OK for churches to reopen.
“We sanitize the building and seating, clean before and after services, and we have people sitting distant. We’ve got them sitting six feet apart between family groups,” said Pastor Jon Simpson. “We try to adjust to what people respond to ... we added a TV outside. It allows them to still talk to people and feel more connected.”
Mitchell Berean’s approach is more in line with what the majority of local churches have been doing on different scales.
Turning Point Apostolic began in-person services with social distancing at its larger Bayard campus at the end of May while also providing masks and hand sanitizer. Scottsbluff’s First United Methodist Church has been doing in-person worship with masks and social distancing for the past seven weeks.
Before going back to face-to-face services, many churches all found a way to reach their congregation virtually. Except for bigger churches like Mitchell Berean, preaching to a virtual congregation was uncharted territory for many rural pastors.
“It was a rough transition. Thank God for young people,” said Pastor Dan Brott of Turning Point Apostolic Church. “We had to get outside the box and our comfort zone.”
Brott shared a similar sentiment of many other local pastors, but as churches continued to develop their online presence, many found it to be an untapped resource that they’ll continue to use far after the pandemic has subsided.
“We see it as an opportunity to join worship if they don’t feel safe to get out,” said Pastor Craig Collins of First United Methodist Church. “There’s always going to be people who are out of town, roads are bad, they’re sick. Whatever the reason, there will always be people.”
Despite their continuation of online services, there seemed to be a consensus among pastors that nothing beats worshiping with their parishioners face to face. Even so, many churches that have reopened, still see lower in-person attendance numbers than before the pandemic. It’s the easy thing to do, as Collins said.
This has caused many pastors to worry that the importance of in-person worship is becoming lost among their congregation members, as many still opt to stay home and join in praise virtually.
“We’re a church that people come to every week, and they receive communion every week,” Selvey said. “It’s a big deal when we can’t gather in person because we are not only missing coffee hour and worship; we’re missing communion. For Episcopalians, that’s a big deal.”
For many churches, not meeting in person is a big deal. Even though most plan to continue their online service offerings, it’s just not the same.
“Watching online doesn’t meet all the needs people have. Church ministers to the spirit, soul and emotion. It ministers to people,” Simpson said. “There is a risk of coming together but there is also a risk in not doing that. The damage and toll on people who cannot get together is high.”
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