Having done online Church at Home since March for the last two Sundays we have gone back to physically attending church - last week at the cathedral in Sydney and today in our little country church.
At the cathedral the normal congregation is larger than the numbers currently allowed. They delayed recommencing the morning service until they could get 250 people in and live stream to the rest. It was very organised with advance online registration, ushers explaining where to sit and how to socially distance on entry and exit.
It's a rather odd experience with no congregational singing (there was the choir), no handshaking or hugging after not seeing each other for so long. People are encouraged to wear masks so most do. No mingling in the corridors after the service and no morning tea so not a lot of opportunity to chat. And the seats were hard because the cushions have been removed to facilitate the extra cleaning required.
At our little country church things were somewhat more relaxed (no masks) and everyone did their best to adhere to the 'rules' within the confines of the small building. This church has been gathering for a month or two now but we chose not to join them until this week because the congregation is elderly and we were regularly travelling on public transport in the city where the virus was not contained until recently.
The good news is the number of people in church can double from next week and we can sing provided we wear a mask so Christmas services will be closer to normal.
Glad you have progress. Here they shut down even more.
ReplyDeleteIn Trier a man lost his mind and went with 70 km/h through the city, killing 5 people, randomly yesterday. Hubby said, no wonder, in isolation people get mad.
So... you´re doing it right over there. Hope we all can hug each other soon again and this madness stops.
"Welcome back" sounds wonderful.
Yes, isolation is sending people mad.
DeleteMost churches here have reopened, with measures for covid in place.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad. I would never have believed until this year that churches in countries such as ours could be shut down.
DeleteWe went to our local church in the Mountains yesterday for the first time since last March. Social distancing still in place, no singing by the congregation and communion was brought around by servers wearing gloves and using tongs for the bread. No morning tea and some wearing masks. I had prepared the Mission prayer and read it out the front where the service was live streamed to those watching on zoom. Next week the congregation will be able to sing the hymns which will be a big improvement. Things are slowly getting back to normal.
ReplyDeleteEveryone is looking forward to being able to sing again. I never realised how important is was until now.
DeleteGlad you are able to go back now. I have only been once since March. Hubby has to have open heart surgery so a cautious....now that our borders have opened up 😏
ReplyDeleteBeing cautious is wise if you have comprised health. It's the potential leakage from hotel quarantine which is today's problem, regardless of which state you live in ... all of the states seemed to have nailed community transmission for the moment.
DeleteNo singing or greeting people - the two things I have really missed with Covid!
ReplyDeleteYou are one of many.
DeleteThings are starting to slowly get back to some form of normal Joan Elizabeth, hopefully the vaccine will be approved in the near future ✨
ReplyDeleteYep looking more normal but on edge until the vaccine has been distributed widely.
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