National Post (National Edition)
Some parishes may not have music at all, some parishes may just have a single singer.
Scramble to devise new guidelines
As provinces reopen after extended shutdowns to battle the COVID-19 outbreak, churches are scrambling to devise guidelines for mass, choirs, confession and everything else that goes along with worship.
One thing is certain: church won’t sound anything like it used to.
“Some parishes may not have music at all, some parishes may just have a single singer,” said Neil MacCarthy, the director of public relations and communications for the Archdiocese of Toronto. “It would be rare to see large choirs singing because the challenges to ensure the physical distancing amongst the instrumentalists and the choir members is very difficult and not practical in most parishes.”
For some, just attending church might be difficult because of the reduced number of people allowed to gather under physical distancing rules.
MacCarthy said parishes in Ontario are looking at a few different ways of distributing a limited number of seats fairly. Some are looking at an online reservation system but worry it could shortchange churchgoers who may not be tech-savvy enough to snag a seat.
These measures will be vitally important, with older Canadians, who are more susceptible to the disease, much more likely to attend. The first wave of COVID-19 saw several outbreaks among church choirs and in churches themselves.
After a choir met for practice in early March in Washington State, dozens of members contracted the virus and at least two died. At a cathedral in Berlin, 59 people in the 78-member choir contracted COVID-19, showing how uniquely virus-friendly a choir practice can be.
With those outbreaks fresh in the memory of church leaders, it’s hard to imagine anyone hearing a live choir anytime soon.
“It’s going to be strange.
Music is part of it for many people,” said MacCarthy.
In early May, the National Association of Teachers of Singing in the United States presented a webinar on “the near-term future of singing.” In short, the future is bleak.
Along with droplets being ejected from the mouth and nose while a person sings, choirs often require large groups of people to gather in small rooms. They are passing around sheet music and file folders and will likely be touching their face more than usual. Group singing seems to combine just about every high-transmission activity.
A massive expansion of testing and contact tracing would be necessary before choirs can congregate again, said Lucinda Halstead, the medical director of the Evelyn Trammell Institute for Voice and Swallowing at the Medical University of South
Carolina, at the webinar in early May. Halstead recommended a robust screening regime at the door of every choir practice and home testing kits for each member of the choir.
“These are things we can aspire to. We don’t have it now,” said Halstead. Even those conditions would depend upon people in the choir accepting a certain level of risk.
Churches are also working through all the other elements of worship that need to be modified during the pandemic. Mask-wearing policies will have to be devised and just about every inch of the church will have to be cleaned between services.
As part of its official guidelines for reopening, California has urged churches to stop singing entirely and also hold shorter services. Places of worship will be limited to 25 per cent of their building’s capacity or 100 people, whichever is smaller.
MacCarthy said he likes the idea of churches running at a reduced capacity. Catholic churches range in size from the intimate with a hundred seats to the massive St. Michael’s Cathedral in Toronto, which can seat 1,200.
Weddings in Ontario are currently restricted to five people, including the officiant, and churches will be keeping a close watch on new guidelines set by each province as wedding season approaches. Funerals are restricted to 10 people.
Most jarring for people may be that the communal aspect of church won’t be what they are used to, with close social gatherings still considered hot spots for COVID-19. Church-goers will be encouraged not to congregate in the parking lots or the lobby and maintain a safe distance when they do socialize.
Even the collection plate will have to go; churches are weighing the possibility of a central box or encouraging people to switch to direct transfers.
“Parishes will be encouraging people to come in, participate in mass and then head out because we’re going to have to clean and sanitize the churches between masses,” said MacCarthy. “It’s going to be very different from what people are accustomed to.”
EVEN THE COLLECTION PLATE WILL HAVE TO GO.