Churches adapting to new rules
EL CENTRO — Several Imperial County churches have resumed indoor services after the California Department of Public Health officials released interim updates to the state’s guidelines for places of worship.
Consistent with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling issued Feb. 5, religious services resumed indoors with modifications this past Sunday.
Christ Community Church Pastor Walter Colace said he wishes the state and county would have followed the order given to New York and New Jersey, which did not have a cap on the size of the congregations meeting indoors.
Colace said sister churches in Calexico and Brawley are still closed, and church leaders will meet soon to decide whether they, too, can reopen indoors.
Since Imperial County remains in the purple tier of California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy, indoor worship activities must be limited to 25 percent of capacity.
The Imperial County health officer order has been updated to reflect the new guidance for religious services.
Colace said Christ Community, since the order was changed, has been allowing church members to be indoors for service or outdoors where a television screen and sound system will be set up.
He said regardless of the numbers allowed, a lot of church members do not feel safe returning to service indoors, but added the church has been having outdoor services since the middle of September.
“We are ready,” he said. “We want people to feel confident, so we will continue to provide the outdoor setting.”
Those sitting outside, will be able to view the service on a large screen and there will be a sound system to allow them to hear the worship music.
“They need to be connected to other people at this time,” he said.
The church’s capacity is 1,147, so 286 people could attend services indoors.
“They should not have a right to put a cap on the attendance,” Colace said.
He said when the governor made his order in March to close churches, it was intended to be for two weeks to a
month, not a year.
He said closing the churches did a lot of damage to people’s culture, as the rates for domestic violence, child abuse, drug and alcohol abuse, and the suicide numbers increased dramatically.
Colace added it’s no surprise these numbers increased so much once the churches were forced to close.
He said the congregations of his church and others are not “a big gathering of strangers,” so the cap of 25 percent makes little sense in his view.
What about restrictions being put on airplanes?” he asked, adding he knows a person who just took a flight from Minnesota where every seat was occupied.
“My point is we were told we had to close for a month, he said. “We are commanded by God to meet and are protected by the First Amendment.”
Colace added that he thinks the U. S. Supreme Court made the right decision, but the county’s decision to limit attendance to 25 percent capacity is hard on churches.
Colace, who along with his wife contracted the virus in January, said the vast majority of people fully recover from it. Coming to a place where people know each other is extremely important, he said.
Fr. Mark Edney, pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe and
St. Mary’s Catholic churches in El Centro said not much has changed from its plan that was submitted to the county several months ago when 25 percent capacity was allowed before a surge occurred.
“It’s just a matter of dusting it off,” Edney said.
He said the 25 percent capacity rule would be easier to do if it was a true 25 percent, but with the 6- foot social distancing guidelines, one- fourth of the congregation to attend indoors would not be possible. Edney pointed out that since July all Catholic parishes have been holding masses outside.
He also took a showof- hands poll of his congregation on how they would prefer to have services. Overwhelmingly, he was told they preferred to hold services outside while the weather was good.
What the Supreme Court decision will accomplish, he said, is to have services like baptisms and funerals indoors again.
Edney said the first indoor mass has been scheduled for Feb. 21 at Our Lady of Guadalupe in El Centro. He said a reservation system would be implemented and about 250 members of the 4,200 congregation could be accommodated.
“It’s a bigger church,” he said. “It’s one of the biggest ones in the county.”
Edney said the 25 percent in some churches could be more dangerous than going to a grocery store, as members of the congregation sit in a pew for 45 minutes or more.
“When indoor ( services) open up at 25 percent that is dangerous,” he said.
He says he thinks the only way to be completely safe when returning indoors for church would be for everyone to be fully vaccinated. At Thursday afternoon’s joint press conference Public Health Director Janette Angulo said the order prohibits singing, chanting, shouting, and playing of wind instruments in religious services. String instruments are allowed, she added.
The California Department of Public Health plans to release final guidance on church services once the Supreme Court ruling has been reviewed further.