Community Chat

[Boomernichols]

Will there be communion passed when things open back up?  Will we pass an offering plate?  What will the future of our churches look like?   I attend a small church in north Mississippi and we always post a member at the door to hand out bulletins and welcome guests.  What will the new normalcy be like do you suppose?

[tsavorite]

It does make you wonder how it will all change.  I can't see people in church with masks on singing?  I get over heated in the face with the mask on just for short periods of time like grocery shopping...I do have rosacea so that is a issue and the mask makes it worse.

No hand shaking (which I never was found of in church during winter season due to reg flu)....smile and nod but with a mask on nobody sees your smile!  

Could draw a smile on mine instead LOL

[Anonymous032819]

At my church, when it comes time to wish each other peace, we just say, "Peace be with you".

There is no shaking of hands.

As for Communion, the wine, (or grape juice) is served in individual little cups.

[golding76]

Boomer, 

I am already fretting over what will become of my relationship with my church, the Greek Orthodox Church.  

We drink Communion from a common spoon that is placed in a common cup.  We kiss holy icons and assorted relics, one after the other.  How will centuries-old sacraments and traditions face this pernicious virus?  There are over 700 families in my parish.

In truth, I have been on alert for the last several decades when I receive Communion, but I've tried to rationalize everything away by saying to myself that I've attended services at this same parish for nearly four decades and I've slowly built up immunity to the viruses and bacteria carried by fellow church members.  Of course, not everyone attends all the time and newcomers routinely become part of the congregation.

We kiss the priest's hand when receiving blessed bread at the end of the service.  There are other moments when we kiss his hand, too, on special feast days. 

But, but, but...    This coronavirus is virulent.    Do I say to my priest, "Er, sorry.  No can do.  Please give me my bread and let me off the hook on that kissing-your-hand part."

I certainly hope the Patriarch (i.e., Bartholomew I, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople) thinks long and hard about how our church will go forward.

[hckynut]

In my opinion at some point it should return to pre-virus normal. Sooner rather than later. 

hckynut 🏒

[Qgirl26]

I wonder the same things @Boomernichols . I go to a fairly large church but we still have people greeting at the door, greeting during the service to those around us (which I'm sure will be suspended awhile) and we pass the communion trays as well as the offering plates. Last church service we had, communion had been prepared differently. We always have one small cup of juice and one small cracker representing the bread that was all together in the pan. We used to have to dig for our cracker and also take one cup of juice. Last time they put the cracker in one cup and stacked a second cup of juice on top of it and you just picked one complete set out. But now I don't know. I think this is going to be a real challenge for church leaders to figure out. I also think it might be awhile yet. Is it bad to say I'm not looking forward to it? We have live online services and I miss my church family but I want to make sure we are relatively safe before we gather together again. I am afraid it's going to look a lot different though. It's sad, isn't it?

[walker]

Interesting thoughts and comments on this subject.  I have been wondering myself.  I am worried about our church financially if we don't get back. So far, at my church, they are ok with electronic or mail-in donations.  It will be interesting to see how they handle going back....definitely not the same.   I will be watching Mass on TV for awhile.  Can you imagine being in church and someone sneezes or coughs? 😳 Run!   Seriously, it has to get better someday!  

😷 and 🙏

[jeanlake]

I think we'll be more aware in general, which is good. On my last church visit, I didn't pass the leather-bound, common attendance log down the row. I thought - no one wants to fill that out anyway and why have all the hands touching it and the pen. Our communion always has had gloved attendants handing us pieces of bread and individual juice cups. I'm not a hugger, although I'm big on handshakes. I'll modify my handshake. I quit drinking out of drinking fountains years ago and use paper towels in community restrooms to open doors. Hubs likes an aisle seat and I put my handbag on the seat next to mine. Will move it if people need the room. I guess I'm a natural-born social distancer.     

[ECBG]

I think that the head of each church committee (in our church, the Elder), will meet with the minister and create some new protocol.  

Practices will need to reflect what is happening in their community.

[Alison Wonderland]

I think it's too soon to say. I'm not sure there's going to be one new normal for some time.

I think we're going to see waves of evolution and backtracking as things open, are hit by new waves of the virus, contract, and try again.