Ban on chanting, singing irks some.
State’s prohibition on hymns, chanting angers churchgoers
Choirs, cantors, hymns and chants have long sat at the heart of religious service, but now public health risks have forced California’s congregations to adapt to a new ban on singing and chanting in places of worship.
And as congregations adjust to the new rules, religiousfreedom advocates have protested Gov. Gavin Newsom’s restrictions.
The Liberty Counsel, a nonprofit group that lobbies for evangelical interests, objected to the ban Tuesday on the grounds that it violates religious freedoms.
“The state has no authority to direct the manner and form of worship,” Mat Staver, the counsel’s founder and chairman, said in a statement.
“The hypocrisy is most evident when you see the same governor banning singing and chanting in religious services while encouraging the same activity in mass protests,” he added. (Newsom last week urged protesters to stay away in consideration of others’ health.)
In late May, the Supreme Court rejected a challenge to Newsom’s health order by a Pentecostal church in Chula Vista (San Diego County). The church had argued that Newsom’s restrictions were unconstitutional because the limits on attendance discriminated against religious institutions.
Some California churchgoers have expressed anger on social media with the state’s guidance for places of worship.
“I think it is totally unconstitutional, let alone unconscionable, for any
one in the U.S. govt. to be telling citizens how they can worship,” said Kelli M. Larson, a churchgoer from Southern California.
Many congregations in the Bay Area have not objected to the new rules, and some are already in compliance because of adjustments they made at the outset of the pandemic. Some institutions have begun to experiment with songs streamed over the internet, while others are singing outdoors. Though religious leaders are saddened by the new silence in their halls and around their altars, most have embraced religious tenets that prioritize health and safety over the demands of traditional practice.
“Judaism stresses that above all else, we should work to preserve health and life,” Gordon Gladstone, executive director of San Francisco’s Congregation Sherith Israel, wrote in an email. “So, while a loss for the moment, we know this is a shortterm sacrifice for the longterm recovery.”
Singing and chanting promote the production of “contaminated exhaled droplets,” negating the protective effects of social distancing, according to guidance from the California Department of Public Health. The department suggests that congregations instead practice singing and related activities via streaming online, and also requires that all places of worship limit attendance to 25% of maximum capacity for services and activities. While places of worship are allowed to reopen in most Bay Area counties at limited capacity, only a few have resumed indoor services.
“Even with adherence to physical distancing, convening in a congregational setting of multiple different households to practice a personal faith carries a relatively higher risk for widespread transmission of the COVID19 virus, and may result in increased rates of infection, hospitalization, and death, especially among more vulnerable populations,” the department wrote in its guidance.
It is unclear whether any other states in the U.S. have enacted similar rules, but in the United Kingdom, the Church of England has instituted similar limits on choral activities.
Communal singing plays an important role in services at Sherith Israel, but since shelter in place began, the congregation has suspended all inperson singing and chanting.
“The loss of communal singing in prayer is one of the drawbacks of a streamed service,” Gladstone wrote.
Because the Jewish High Holiday services in September traditionally involve large choirs, this year the congregation will experiment with software that allows people to sing communally from their homes.
Many commonly used video chat services don’t sync up audio closely enough to allow for smooth musical performances.
Valley Church in Solano County has begun physically distanced inperson services and activities.
“We don’t have a choir, but our worship teams have been able to rehearse in a large, open area with heavy commercial sanitation measures in place,” wrote Jeremy White, lead pastor for the church. “We are blessed with large, outdoor spaces where we are able to host outdoor gatherings with mitigative protocols in place,” he added.
The guidance has not affected prayers at the South Bay Islamic Association — headquartered at Masjid alMustafa in San Jose — because very little chanting or singing usually occurs inside. The mosque has moved prayers out of doors, and the call to prayer is now performed in hushed tones to avoid disturbing nearby residents, Athar Siddiqee, chairman of the association, wrote in an email.
The state’s public health guidance also advised county health officers to consider limits on outdoor events at places of worship, and recommended that all congregations should at the minimum implement strict social distancing during attendance at outdoor activities. Face coverings are also required at all places of worship and all congregational activities.
Congregation EmanuEl San Francisco streams services from home, but they will soon begin streaming services from the temple — without the congregation present.
“There’s a rabbinic saying that you should get yourself a teacher when you’re in trouble, and usually that means a rabbi, but now that means public health specialists and doctors,” said David Goldman, the congregation’s executive director and general counsel. “We’re really looking to that community for advice.”