D.C. church quarantined amid virus outbreak

WASHINGTON — Christ Church in the District of Columbia’s Georgetown is usually known for sponsoring the posh neighborhood’s garden tour and being co-founded 203 years ago by Francis Scott Key, who wrote “The Star Spangled Banner.”

In an area flush with prominent residents and history, the 800-family Episcopal Church has both.

“It’s one of the most well-connected churches in Washington,” said Robert Devaney, editor of the Georgetowner newspaper, which covers the Washington neighborhood. “It’s a well-attended and respected church. They are an influencer in Georgetown.”

But this week congregants are experiencing a different kind of news-making history after their rector, the Rev. Timothy Cole, became the first confirmed case of coronavirus in the District. Health officials have asked hundreds of people who attended Christ Church services on March 1 – or who were at the church on Feb. 24 or between Feb. 28 and March 3 – to self-quarantine due to their potential contact with Cole. The cleric is at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in stable condition.

A church spokesman said church leaders had discussed precautions for the virus, had hand sanitizers in the building and did everything they could with the information they had.

Cole on March 1 had devoted five minutes of his sermon to talking about best practices about hand-washing and other virus-prevention-related issues, said Rob Volmer, a congregant serving as church spokesman for the virus. Cole, whom parishioners refer to as “Father Tim,” washed and sanitized his hands before distributing Communion at the 11:15 a.m. service, Volmer said.

“Since this came out we were as diligent as anyone could be,” Volmer said, adding that the church sought guidance from the diocese, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the D.C. Health Department.

Christ Church does some outreach and services during the week, but its core work occurs Sunday. Internal research shows what parishioners most value and appreciate are the church’s traditions, said Sally Squires, a former vestry member and former Washington Post reporter who is now on the altar guild.

The church was founded in 1817, before the Episcopal Diocese of Washington existed.

Key, a lawyer, was among a small group of Episcopalians who left another parish they did not find sufficiently conservative and helped found Christ Church. In 1817 he attended the denomination’s General Convention, and introduced what he called an “evangelical” resolution. It decried “conforming to the vain amusements of the world,” including theater, playing cards and public balls, according to a history the church prepared for its bicentennial in 2017. Christ Church is the rare bipartisan church, said Squires and other members. Its prominent members come from different political backgrounds – political, military, legal, medical and others – happy to escape the partisanship they engage with all week

“They are living politics all week and on Sundays want a respite,” she said. “We don’t talk politics. We talk religion and what we can do for others.”

Christ Church places a huge emphasis on traditional music, and was left an endowment specifically to support it. The choir is semiprofessional, Squires said.

At Christ Church, Communion is distributed at each service, and on Sundays there are three services. On March 1, Volmer said, Cole was present for all three services but distributed Communion (or “was the celebrant”) only at one.

At Communion time, people approach the altar and are given a wafer and offered a sip of wine from a common cup.

Volmer said Cole, as usual, used hand sanitizer and washed his hands before distributing Communion. He carried out the ritual by placing a wafer in each person’s hand as they approach. The celebrant tries to only hold the tip of the wafer, Volmer said. Most people at Christ Church dip the wafer into the cup – called a chalice – and then drink directly from the cup and eat the wafer, Volmer said. People who for whatever reason don’t wish to do that can cross their hands in front of their chest and simply receive a blessing.

Volmer received Communion at the 9 a.m. service, as usual. But he says knowing what he knows now, he’d forgo the rite because of the virus.