Rachel Snyder, communications director at Grace Church, a Charis Fellowship congregation in Wooster, Ohio, is quoted in Friday’s Daily Record regarding the return to in-person worship in their community. A portion of the story appears below. Click here to read the complete article.
Careful return — Churches cautiously transition back to in-person worship
Half the pews are roped off at St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church and face masks are now a required part of Mass. Grace Church has the chairs in its gymnasium set up in clusters six feet apart.
Local churches have begun returning to in-person worship over the last few weeks and service looks a bit different than it did pre-COVID.
Ohio’s restrictions on public gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic never applied to places of worship. But nearly all Ohio churches decided to close their doors, many transitioning to broadcasting worship online, in late March or early April. …
Local church leaders said they are doing everything they can to reduce the risk of spreading the virus.
For those who weren’t quite ready to go back into the church building, Grace Church offered a drive-in parking lot service as well as indoor services last Sunday for the first time in months.
“We just added options,” said Rachel Snyder, communications director at Grace Church. “We still had a huge online service.”
Pre-COVID, Grace Church had about 2,000 worshippers on an average Sunday. Last Sunday, across all services, about 450 people attended, said Snyder.
Click here to read the complete article.