Authored by Sydney Little
As churches shifted to online services during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, I found myself in a surprising revival of faith. With services available at the touch of a screen, I was suddenly able to experience worship more often than ever, no longer inhibited by a busy schedule or a long drive to church. However, as other churches returned to in-person services with little-to-no precautions in place, I found that my restoration of faith was undermined by a lack of compassion for those affected most deeply by the pandemic. As my conservative community pushed for a swift end to lockdowns and masks, churches were some of the first to follow suit. From the comfort of my own online church services, I couldn’t help but wonder how Jesus’ message of compassion for the sick and suffering had gotten so lost in translation.
As time went on, the polite phrasing of “Join us in-person if you feel ready!” became “It’s time for us ALL to gather together again.” Masks slowly but surely disappeared until only a select few donned this decade’s most crucial accessory. As more and more pastors push for their full congregation to return in person, so many high-risk individuals are pushed to the margins and left out of consideration. A church that prioritizes the number of Sunday attendees is a church that will inevitably harm the very people that it wants so desperately to fill the pews. Pastors, when you preach about how essential it is to gather together, you’re not wrong, but what are you doing to make your congregation feel safe enough to gather? What are you doing to show your disabled parishioners, your chronically-ill parishioners, your parents of newborns, your elderly, and every other high-risk individual in your church that you care about them? Yes, their spiritual health is important, but no one should be asked to sacrifice their physical health to get to church.
One solution is to put COVID regulations in place for services. Mandate masks, enforce social distancing, suggest vaccinations. Encourage your congregation to emulate Jesus in their response to the pandemic—sacrifice some of their smaller comforts for the sake of the “least of these” among them. Lead by example, whether this is getting vaccinated or wearing a mask unless you are preaching. Let the deep power of Jesus’ love permeate your church, and let each be willing to mask up for the sake of loving and including their neighbor.
A second solution is to allow people to ease into in-person worship at their own pace. We have the technology for live streamed worship, virtual small group meetings, and digital service projects. Let us find a way to meet everyone where they are, whether they are fully ready to gather together or they are still cautious about exposure. Bring the church to your congregation. Remind those among you who are not quite ready to return that they have a community of Love waiting for them whenever they feel called to come back. Most importantly, remove the kind of language that shames people watching online for not being there in person from your vocabulary. Acknowledge the various reasons why a person may not feel up to in-person gatherings quite yet. Allow your congregation to move at their own pace, taking their personal health into account throughout the entire process.
With each increasing day of this pandemic, let us live out our teachings. Let us love our immunocompromised neighbors and our neighbors who are not ready for a crowded Sunday just as deeply as we love the neighbor in the pew next to us. In this ever-changing world, let us put others before ourselves as often as possible, starting with the simplest act of putting on a mask.