By Matt Roy
Twitter: @AzNewsmedia

As leaders stagger to reopen businesses and other public facilities, which were shuttered due to the ongoing COVID-19 public health crisis, area religious leaders look forward to restarting in-person services in their communities.

Bishop Thomas Olmsted — who leads the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix and an estimated 1.2 million parishioners in the state’s largest diocese — said the public Mass and other traditional rites will resume through a stepwise implementation, but only after further consideration.

“We know where we want to go on this journey. Back to the celebration of Mass and of the other sacraments of the Church,” Mr. Olmsted said in a May 2 video message posted at the diocese website: dphx.org. “We miss our family, our friends and our parish communities. We hunger for Jesus and the Eucharist. In this regard, I want you to know that we are making preparations for when we can together begin again.”

He said he will be working with “priests and advisors” to develop and implement the plan to reopen church facilities and restart usual parish activities through a three-phased implementation process, which could be announced days or weeks from now.

The timing of that process will depend on what experts deem as safe; but patience may yet be required as leaders decide on the pace of the restoration, Mr. Olmsted explained.

“For the safety of everyone, we continue to monitor the directives of the governor’s office, our state health officials and the federal government. In the not-too-distant future, we pray, we’ll be able to implement a three-phase plan to restore parish life,” he said. “We are calling our restoration plan ‘Rising with Christ.’ Our progress will be gradual, not perfect. Some challenges and frustrations will likely happen. Patience will be needed by all.”

When services do resume, attendance will be limited and parishioners will be asked to practice “…social distancing, self-protection and sanitation,” he added.

Pastor Kale Garrison, who leads Christ Church of the Valley’s Surprise campus, said CCV officials are also taking a measured approach based on advice from government leaders and health experts, while relying on spiritual guidance as well.

“Our executive team is in agreement that we need to not rush back into things and do need to support our local and national leaders with a tiered approach. Each day brings new information. So, we are trusting God and our leaders,” Mr. Garrison stated.

Big changes for churches

In response to a questionnaire from Daily Independent, Mr. Garrison explained how his church responded to the Governor’s March 17 call for social distancing and other measures to combat spread of the novel coronavirus.

Overnight, the more than 5,600 worshipers — who had previously attended one of six weekly in-person services in Surprise, along with the rest of the estimated 35,000 members of CCV’s 10 campuses across the Valley — had to embrace telephonic services and other alternatives, he said.

“Right after it was announced that we would pause our weekly in-person gatherings for worship services and physical experiences, we moved to an exclusive online experience,” Mr. Garrison stated. “One of the areas we place a high value for the community in is our small groups, which happen all across the Valley in homes through the week. We moved those to Zoom, so groups could continue to meet at least on a digital platform.”

He said his campus has continued its regular six-service schedule at the same Saturday and Sunday times, but viewed online through the CCV Surprise website, ccv.church/surprise, as well as at their YouTube and Facebook pages.

“We offer an online live worship experience that can be viewed during our normal weekend service times, or people can of course go back and review them any time during the week,” Mr. Garrison said.

Separate programs made for children and students are also broadcast live and archived online, he said.

While social distancing has disrupted normal operations and brought demonstrable harm to the economy, workers and families — the experience is also exposing the strength and goodness of many in the community, Mr. Garrison suggested.

“For local businesses, employees and people who had their jobs and health affected, we are very saddened by that and do not take those situations lightly,” he stated. “Honestly, in many ways, as weird as it sounds, this may have been very unifying in a variety of ways.”

Notably, he said, social distancing has inspired introspection and an outpouring of generosity and renewed faith.

“In terms of our pace and how we live life, it has caused us all to consider the way in which we are spending our time and resources. It has slowed us down in ways that we may not have done on our own,” Mr. Garrison stated. “It has allowed so many people to serve our community. It has certainly created some challenges of course; but, it is not surprising to God, and He is the one leading us through this. We will bounce back and be stronger.”

Careful & creative approaches

Pastor Greg Brown, who shepherds a flock of around 1,000 congregants at Skyway Church in Goodyear, said following the governor’s March announcement, the church immediately embraced online services.

“Once the governor issued the self-quarantine decree in March, we shifted our entire ministry to the community from coming to church in person to digital expressions of these ministries,” Mr. Brown stated. “It took us 72 hours to have a complete format shift. We had everything in place before the shutdown.”

Before the social distancing requirements, public activities took place at the Skyway campus every day of the week, with numerous worship services, classes and training events.

These have been replaced by online forums, while some essential in-person ministries have continued with caution and appropriate protection measures in place, he said.

“Social distancing has been respected and practiced in the things we continue to provide on campus,” Mr. Brown stated. “Our St. Mary’s food distribution, Red Cross blood drive, and other social services have continued to operate and serve the community. We have had all the protocols in place, people trained and safe practices have been appreciated by the community we serve and by our volunteers.”

His church has embraced some creative new approaches to adjust to social distancing, including staging a drive-in Easter service, which he said was well-attended.

“We hosted Easter Sunday as a ‘drive-in church’ and we had everyone stay in their cars while I spoke from a 25 foot lift and 225 cars drove to church for our most memorable Easter ever,” Mr. Brown said of the innovative service, which drew the attention of local TV news reporters.

While the disruptions have been difficult, the changes were needed to help save lives; but many in the community are hurting and eager to return to something closer to normal, he said.

“I believe the lockdown was necessary to slow the spread of the virus. It has helped us embrace new ways of connecting with each other and new people,” Mr. Brown stated. “It has been economically devastating to some, especially business owners. It has been very hard on those in the hospital to be there alone. We have actually conducted a funeral online for the family members from around the world to attend. People are getting ready to come back out right now.”

Fair normalization process needed

As state officials phase out restrictions for selected public facilities while keeping others closed, some in his community have expressed frustration at the process, Mr. Brown said.

“There is a sense of injustice for some businesses to be open while others are not allowed. The slow return has been more problematic than when everyone was under the same restrictions,” Mr. Brown stated. “It is time for us to move forward, just as it was time to slow down and change things 8 weeks ago.”

But while many are eager for the warmth of public fellowship, time will still be needed for some in his congregation to “feel safe to do so,” he said, prompting leaders to plan for a gradual return to begin once the time is right.

“Churches need to go back to normal when the public feels it is safe to do so. To accommodate this, we are offering incremental steps to come back,” Mr. Brown stated. “All of these steps will be available once we are given the green light to return to the building with safe practiced protocols. Going back to normal will be a process, but it is important to take the steps to bring people back into the new normal.”

When church leaders decide to proceed with reopening, online services will continue, while limited in-person seating will be offered for a one-hour service inside the sanctuary, with an outdoor patio set up to accommodate social distancing.

Other bring-your-own-chair services will be offered outdoors at the campus softball facility.

But if social interaction is believed to worsen the outbreak, he will continue to heed the guidance of medical experts and government leaders, he said.

“If there is a significant rise or spread of the disease, we will trim back as requested to the earlier practices of digital over in person,” Mr. Brown said. “I do not think this will happen, but we are respectful to make decisions to best serve the public safety and health.”