Churches Taking Different Paths to Resuming Services
As retail stores, restaurants, museums and other businesses slowly reopen, many local churches are also taking extra precautions to make sure their congregations are ready to come back.
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church in La Grange held a service on Sunday with a total of 50 people in attendance which is under half of their regular amount. “We followed the 25% capacity rule and made a lot of changes within the church to account for the governor’s health and social distancing protocols,” said Pastor Jason Kaspar. Some of those changes are footprints showing the safe distance when walking in church, a single offering plate when you walk into church, disposable bulletins that show the hymns and Scriptures readings for the service so the books do not have to be used and the pew cushions have been removed in every other pew to designate where to sit.
The Remnant Church in La Grange also held a service on Sunday. Prior to Sunday on April 27 they had held a Fight Night Prayer Service with the governor’s recommendations so they were prepared for their first Sunday service. “The service was safe, secure, sanitized, spacious, and spectacular,” said Pastor Jan Hill. “We used the same procedures we had implemented on the Monday night prayer meeting, with a few additions.” A new addition was a sentinel (security) team for the service. 65 people were in attendance.
Sacred Heart Church in La Grange and St. Rose of Lima in Schulenburg plan to have their first in-person service this Sunday. “This has been a big learning lesson for us,” said Sacred Heart Parish Business Administrator Mark Novak. “We want to make sure we are following the rules.” Father Alberto has posted a video on the restrictions they have for public Masses. Among those restrictions, masks must be worn and following the 25% capacity rule, only 116 people will be allowed inside. The church will also be closed after each Mass as their Holy Cleaning Team sanitizes it for the next Mass.
St. Rose of Lima in Schulenburg is also heavily preparing for this Sunday. Father Timothy Kosler, who also helps with the services in High Hill and Ammannsville, said, “Attendance may be low, but we will wait and see.” He continued, “I am concerned about the High Hill and Ammannsville area because they are already a small community and with the 25% capacity, I don’t know how that will work.”
Other churches like Flatonia Baptist Church and St. James’ Episcopal Church are still waiting to reopen their church doors for “regular” services. Flatonia Baptist Church has decided to wait until the first week in June to begin in-person worship gatherings. “This may appear like an over-abundance of caution to some however this seems to be the wise decision given our particular set of circumstances,” said Pastor Tim Rowell. Even at that time, the church will only come together for worship because there will not be Sunday school or any youth and children’s activities until further notice. As of now the church has decided to continue with their online services which go live each week at the church’s normal 10:45 a.m. worship time. “Most likely when we do gather again in-person we will have two morning worship services in order to accommodate the number of participants while maintaining proper social distancing,” said Pastor Rowell. He also added that they have decided to also send out a survey to their church members to see what other concerns they might have.
St. James’ Episcopal Church in La Grange has also decided to wait during this time. “This will take time and during the meantime we will continue worshiping virtually on Sundays,” said Father Eric Hungerford. The bishops in the diocese of Texas, along with the St. James’ clergy have begun to formulate a phased approach to moving back to in-person worship, he said.
All of these churches would like to remind their congregations that they first and foremost want everyone to feel safe coming to church and at this time if you are not ready to come back, that is fine. They want you to continue to worship at your own discretion and always put you and your family’s health first.