RECENTLY ADOPTED HEALTH PROTOCOLS FOSTER A SENSE OF FAITH IN CHURCHGOERS

Overwhelmingly beautiful architecture, yet eerily strange, walking into a church now seems unusual and macabre since health protocols have increased. Welcoming eyes are all that is left to be seen in the face of the door greeter. They instruct you to sanitize your hands, sign in, and another person takes a reading of your temperature with a laser thermometer. Once cleared, signs and stickers direct visitors where to go and in what direction. 

In Syracuse, New York, Christians had to change how they practice their religion once churches closed the doors to in-person services in early March due to the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing restrictions. After a few weeks, several churches changed how they conducted religious services. 

Assumption Church started streaming live on Facebook, YouTube and Amazon Alexa products with more than 300 views per Mass. 

Catholic friars from the Assumption Church also adopted new and modern ways of connecting with congregants. Friar Nick Spanno started a podcast to teach important messages of the Bible, and, with friar Rick Riccoli, he created a series available on YouTube. 

Pastor Alicia Wood of University United Methodist Church started to become more involved in the church’s Facebook account. Almost every day, she is livestreaming, offering words of encouragement, giving updates about the church and teaching viewers about the Bible. 

After months of offering services only online, churches were allowed by the state to reopen for in-person worship and prayer. 

In an attempt to keep congregants and clergy safe, the church developed new protocols. 

Upon entering the main chapel, guests are asked to provide their name, phone number and the number of people in their party. An usher at the door checks temperatures with a laser thermometer. Disposable copies of the text read during mass are offered because Bibles and hymn books are no longer available on the back of the pews.

Since June, churches also have limited in-person capacity to 33%. Donations are no longer collected in baskets passed from pew to pew but at the door in a collection box. Offers and tithes can be given online as well. 

Assumption Church has also changed how they practice communion. Catholics now stand on floor stickers, designated 6 feet apart with two rows of hand-sanitizing machines. After receiving the wafer, each congregant moves to a sticker to the left or right and pull down his or her mask to quickly consume. 

Because singing praises is especially dangerous as aerosolized particles remain longer in areas with decreased ventilation such as churches, worship leaders have begun to teach American sign language to the congregation using prerecorded videos featuring church musicians.