With rising COVID-19 cases locally and statewide, many Columbus area houses of worship are deciding this weekend to revert to online-only worship services — or to switch to other formats such as Westside Community Church’s drive-in parking lot service transmitted via 87.9 FM radio frequency on Sunday and the remainder of the year.
That includes Advent and Christmas.
“I have moved our lectern out in our lobby in front of our large, front window where I can see all of our cars out in the parking lot,” said Pastor Dennis Aud. “At least it feels like I am preaching to people, and not a big, empty room.”
Westside first did parking lot worship in the spring, including an Easter Sunday service on April 12 that featured Aud preaching to the car-comfy faithful from the bed of a pickup truck so people could see him.
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Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop met with about 30 local pastors via Zoom Wednesday to request, not require, that spiritual leaders revert to the online-only approach that most spiritual bodies of believers used in the spring during the lockdown period in order to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
“The request seemed well received,” Lienhoop said.
Under Gov. Eric Holcomb’s most recent guidelines, houses of worship are not directly affected by restrictions imposed on other gatherings.
But Holcomb has asked religious leaders to consider moving to online services.
St. Bartholomew Catholic Church, the largest local religious body, is now encouraging parishioners to stay home and worship online, according to a video message from Pastor Chris Wadelton. But, for those who still want to attend in-person services, those will now be limited to 175 people, “just to keep numbers down to reduce the potential for spreading (the virus),” Wadelton said.
Other houses of worship at least for the moment are planning to still gather in limited numbers. Until Thursday morning, that originally included St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, which has been hosting Sunday worship with fewer than 20 distanced and masked people for some time, according to Kathi Whipker, parish administrator.
“Because our gatherings were so small, we still felt it was safe (at the time),” Whipker said.
But church members have now switched to online-only worship until further notice.
Those limited in-person gatherings also include the Islamic Society of Columbus Indiana, which was among the last spiritual group to get back to in-person meetings this summer because of concerns for a large number of its children and older members.
“So far, no talks of closing down,” said Hanna Omar, a spokesperson for the society. “But this may change.”
In fact, many spiritual leaders have been telling their attendees nearly all year long to stay prepared for changes and adjustments because of the pandemic — and to find opportunities for optimism amid change. At The Ridge, one of the larger local churches, Lead Pastor Adam Johnson early this week encouraged people to be in prayer for all non-church attenders — people “who would not (ever) step foot into a church building” — who probably will catch part of a service or two on the Facebook page for Ridge24.7 or the church’s YouTube channel.
He mentioned that the decision to move back online to a 10 a.m. Sunday livestream was difficult.
“(But) one of our values around here is that we believe nothing matters if people don’t matter,” Johnson said. “And we believe that caring for people right now means having to make really tough choices.”
Pastor Paul Dazet of Sandy Hook United Methodist Church echoed that sentiment when he made a decision on Tuesday to move to online-only services perhaps for the rest of year, following the encouragement of Indiana Bishop Julius C. Trimble. The bishop cited in his printed online message from Tuesday one of the United Methodists’ three General Rules: Do no harm. And Trimble stated that it is “a fact that church worship gatherings are key sources of the spread of COVID-19.”
Dazet emphasized that the decision has nothing to do with fear.
“We’re going to be known by the way that we love one another,” Dazet said. “Jesus said we will known by our love. And what is the best way to love? Right now, the best way to love our neighbor — and keep in mind that we have a medical doctor in our congregation — is to not gather together physically.
“And I realize that some people may disagree. But this is about mission, not a matter of people losing their rights.”
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Information about church worship service changes in the Bartholomew County area can be found in today’s Faith section which begins on B1.
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