Will worshippers keep from singing? They may have no choice
“How can I keep from singing?” asks the classic hymn.
But worshippers may have to, at least for a while, once they gather in person again with the easing of pandemic-related restrictions.
In many religious traditions, a central aspect to worship is having congregants sing hymns of prayer and praise in unison. It’s a physical, bodily act, as much as kneeling, bowing or partaking in tangible sacraments of bread, wine or water.
Now that religious groups are looking at what it will take to reopen their doors to worship after weeks on Zoom and Facebook Live, they’re hearing cautions against singing together — at least not within spitting distance of each other.
Saliva droplets are considered a prime vector for spreading the coronavirus.
And when singing is involved, spitting distance could be longer than the 6 feet normally recommended for social distancing — especially if worshippers “sing lustily and with good courage,” per the instructions of the 18th century
Protestant revivalist John Wesley, in words Methodists can still find printed at the front of their hymnals.
Most of those who attended a choral practice in Skagit County, Wash., on March 10 — just days before social distancing became widespread — left with the infection. The virus could have spread just from choir members sitting close together and touching the same door handles and other surfaces, but one possible vector was the “act of singing, itself,” according to a May 12 report by
Skagit County Public
Health.
Past studies have found, with speech, a louder voice can project particles farther.
In a recent conference call with hundreds of Pennsylvania faith leaders, state Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine “did discuss singing and the fact that the virus travels in droplets of saliva and can travel more than 6 feet while singing,” according to Nate Wardle, press secretary for the Department of Health. “If singing is to occur, social distancing should be more than 6 feet.”
This is hardly the only quandary facing religious organizations these days.
Many are struggling to stay above water financially as offerings decline.
With most of Western Pennsylvania in the state’s cautionary “yellow” zone, gatherings are limited to 25 people or fewer. For all but the smallest churches, inperson worship is on hold. Funerals and weddings have a bare minimum of attendees, leaving others to mourn or celebrate online. The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh has set a goal of restarting public Masses on June 1, but weekday Masses at least will be limited to 25 attendees, and no choirs will be used at this time.
Religious leaders across the spectrum are pondering what in-person worship will be like, especially if singing is restricted.
“For Methodists, it’s absolutely hard to fathom what it looks like,” said Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi of the Western Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church. “There’s going to have to be singing. We just have to figure out how to do that safely.” At minimum, that might mean singing with masks and maybe having family members face each other rather than the persons ahead of them.
Or, she said, some churches might limit singing to a praise team at a safe distance from the rest of the worshippers.
Others are doubtful congregational singing can return even with precautions. The Wisconsin Council of Churches, in recommendations to members, discouraged singing in church even through masks. Churches in Germany have resumed worship, but without singing.
“Sunday mornings are going to be really hard in the next year,” said the Rev. Amy Schifrin, associate professor of liturgy and homiletics at Trinity School for Ministry in Ambridge.
“So much of our life of faith, it comes to life in our voices,” she said. “The psalter (book of Psalms) was not written to be spoken; it was written to be sung, and it has been through the ages.”
Now, Rev. Schifrin said, she’s concerned online worship is making “spectators” rather than participants. “We have to find ways to teach our people to pray and sing in whatever places they’re in,” she said.
Even before they think about singing, many congregations are weighing the merits of gathering in person.
“My worship services include a great deal of congregational singing,” said Rabbi Jeffrey Myers of Tree of Life / Or L’Simcha Congregation, who also is a hazzan, or cantor, leading the singing in worship. His congregation has been meeting online, and the “lack of clarity regarding virus transmission and what is deemed safe make it very difficult in some regards to determine when it might be safe to resume.”
Jewish law has a concept of “pikuach nefesh,” or mortal danger, he said. “If there is mortal danger, then almost the entire body of Jewish law can be put aside,” he said. “This principal continues to govern responses to questions regarding the resumption of communal prayer gatherings. When enough information makes it clear that there is no
pikuach nefesh, no mortal danger, then services may resume.”
When it does, he and other faith leaders said, they will shape worship activities based on the best recommendations from medical experts.
Still, clergy say they will miss the full-throated singing.
“It’s hard,” said the Rev. Randall Bush, senior pastor of East Liberty Presbyterian Church. “You can have people hum, you can read the words, or you have a soloist sing it and you listen, but it’s definitely not the same.”
Bishop Moore-Koikoi noted the Western Pennsylvania conference spans 23 counties in the western part of the state, and she said decisions by each Methodist congregation need to account for their context and community situation. The conference website has a detailed set of guidelines for churches in counties designated red, yellow or green by the state.
But all congregations face common concerns. That includes singing, and it also includes preaching. Some clergy preach with gusto as they walk among the congregants. “Some of us — we would be also projecting any kind of virus in the way that we preach,” she said. Pastors will have to adjust to the fact “you can’t be as intimate and close to people” as they normally would.
Rev. Schifrin, who also is president emeritus of North American Lutheran Seminary (housed at Trinity School for Ministry), comes from the tradition of Protestant Reformer Martin Luther. He put a premium on congregational singing as a way to “proclaim the Word of God through music.”
Today? “I believe that Luther would say you need to sing at home,” Rev. Schifrin said.
She said the church traditionally has taught that worshippers on Earth are joined with those in heaven, so they’re never really singing alone.
“How can I keep from singing if I can’t be singing with my congregation?” she said. “I’m at home with my dogs, and I’m singing, and the voices of saints and angels are leading me on.”