Holidays During Covid

[Haggishead]

What are you doing, or able to do, during the season of Covid at your places of worship?

[haynes9]

Kind of a mixed bag, to be honest. We live on the Navajo Navajo Nation which has had some of the most intense measures in place for Covid. We have been under some form of lockdown on weekends (with the exception of two weekends) since April. It has typically been a lockdown from 9 PM Friday night until 5 AM Monday morning. Each night, we have a 9 PM curfew.

On Sundays, we have a phone-in service mornings and evening. On Wednesday, we meet in our building. The seats are socially distanced and we encourage folks to wear masks. There is some question as to the percentage of seating capacity we are allowed with regards to congregants.

In our current lockdown, the Tribe allows essential businesses to be open daily form 7 AM to 3 PM. This is designed to keep people from going to border towns where the precautions are theoretically not as strong. I will withhold comment as to my opinions as to whether these measures are effective or not. Another topic for another thread!!

We have also in warmer weather had drive-up services where people stay in their vehicles and listen over the phone with their windows up.

There will come a point where we will need to start meeting physically again on Sundays and I believe that time will be sooner rather than later. Our church folks have remained strong, but there is a need for fellowship among God's people. Once again, I will refrain from certain of my opinions here, but that is the current state of things.

Great topic, Haggishead!!

[Haggishead]

It has been a challenging year. I actually began a new pastoral position on April 1st. No joke! I finished up my last job as a chaplain for a long-term care facility mid-March right after all this started.

The church was shut down for in-person gatherings so I, like many, did virtual services from our old residence while we searched for a new place to live. During that time, I did on-line services and upgraded my skills in letter writing! We had to move during the pandemic to the new location about 6-7 weeks later.

Once we arrived, I worked with the regional health department to see what could and could not be done. We opened back up in a limited fashion around the second week of June with limited attendance, in-house social distancing, and other precautions.

We have been operating at about 25% capacity since then. The congregation was in a rebuilding phase so numbers were naturally down. I am waiting and watching how this will pan out for the rest of the winter and spring. It is a first for all of us, not just ministers but businesses and families as well.

[MacFive]

Just hoping when the vaccine is available for everyone and we can start to see people again. Seems like it is getting worse now they are recommending buying groceries online and not going to the supermarket as it is risky.

[McRoach]

The church I attend has a Zoom meeting option setup for those who cannot attend. That was helpful during the holiday season with all these varients that keep popping up. I miss in person meetings and try to attend when I feel I can safely keep my distance but I really dont want to get Covid so I zoom more than I go these days.

Crossing fingers that vaccines and varients will calm down enough to keep these surges from continuing.

Thoughts and Prayes - stay safe everyone!