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From Rhode Island-
Meanwhile, the Episcopal Dioceses of Rhode Island is taking a more
measured approach. Church buildings can reopen for very small groups of
worshipers if they choose to do so. But most services will remain
online for now. It’s something Bishop Nicholas Knisely said has been a
surprise blessing.
"We are worshiping in ways, and more
effectively, than I would have even guessed," Bishop Knisely said.
"We've actually seen in the diocese here, attendance has gone up."
The
online services have been especially popular with older people and
parents of young children who can't necessarily come to church in
person, and Episcopal churches plan to continue to livestream them even
once it’s safe for people to attend in person.
"It's as if we have done two decades worth of evolution in two months," Knisely said.
More here-
https://turnto10.com/i-team/houses-of-worship-confront-covid-19-as-some-reopen-buildings
From Rhode Island-
At St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, the Rev. Christa Moore-Levesque
will continue to conduct her live-streamed Sunday sermons via Zoom. The
virtual meetings have allowed the congregation to remain connected,
albeit remotely.
“They really like seeing each other’s faces,” she said. “I try to say
hello to everyone when they come in, and people really like that. It
makes them feel like we’re still a community. Everyone knows who’s there
worshipping together.”
The online sermons have been about as long as they would have been if
the church was open, but Moore-Levesque said her sermons are “not very
long” in the first place, typically lasting about 10 minutes in length.
The subjects of her virtual sermons have touched upon the coronavirus
pandemic, how to cope with feelings of isolation and how neighbors can
help one another.
“The content has definitely been different,” she said.
Additionally, Moore-Levesque has offered a weekly children’s message
on her YouTube channel, and she also posted videos during Holy Week in
April. She has been sending bulletins and children’s activities to
families since the shutdown, and following Easter, she began posting
stories for children featuring spiritual stories each Friday afternoon.
The decision to continue the live streams in lieu of reopening St.
Matthew’s came following guidance from Bishop W. Nicholas Knisely, the
Episcopal leader for Rhode Island. He recommended churches in the
diocese continue worshipping online through June. According to
Moore-Levesque, there have been religious leaders who were surprised by
Rai- mondo’s decision to incorporate churches into her second phase of
reopening.
More here-
https://www.jamestownpress.com/articles/churches-preparing-return-to-services/
From Virginia-
While church doors have partially opened for the past two weeks in
most of Virginia, many faith leaders have enjoyed an uptick in
participation in online services and are looking for ways to retain that
interest.
Richmond couple April and Rick Greenwood each lead
their respective Episcopal churches on Sundays, though their homilies
haven’t been delivered from their sanctuaries for some time because of
closures due to COVID-19. Rick Greenwood is the rector at St. Paul’s
Episcopal Church in downtown Petersburg, and April Greenwood, a
30-minute drive east, is the rector at Westover Episcopal Church, one of
the oldest in the country, in rural Charles City County.
More here-
https://www.richmond.com/news/local/watch-now-richmond-area-churches-seeing-higher-than-normal-attendance-online/article_555e7f0d-8feb-52f0-b35d-ac9d10c253d5.html
From NPR-
One of the most disturbing changes for Christians has been the suspension of congregational singing and church choirs. Health experts say
the coronavirus is easily spread through singing, but music is an
essential part of the worship experience for many churchgoers,
especially in the Protestant tradition.
"I would never have
heard my call to the priesthood if I hadn't found my faith through
song," says Rev. Jennifer Reddall, the Episcopal bishop for the diocese
of Arizona. She was announcing the guidelines under which Episcopal
churches in her diocese would be allowed to reopen. A ban on singing and
choral performances was the restriction that Reddall said was most
personally upsetting.
"I'm not even sure I would be a Christian today if I wasn't able to pray by singing," Reddall said in a video message to the members of her diocese. "But I don't want to kill someone by my prayer or by my music."
For Episcopal parishioners in Arizona, the only music option now available is to follow the church program at home.
More here-
https://www.npr.org/2020/05/20/858918339/things-will-never-be-the-same-how-the-pandemic-has-changed-worship
From ENS-
With churches unable to meet in person for services and other
gatherings, the Zoom videoconferencing app has been a lifeline. And just
as many congregations had finally gotten the hang of it, it went down
in the U.S. for several hours at the worst possible time: Sunday
morning.
The outage, which has since been resolved, appeared to hit users on the East Coast particularly hard. Many were unable to host or join livestreams, while some could see the other participants but not hear them.
Although many churches stream their services on Facebook Live or
YouTube instead of (or in addition to) Zoom, it is commonly used for
virtual coffee hours, Sunday school and Bible studies because of its
interactive capabilities. Some Episcopal churches improvised based on
the level of functionality they had, holding audio-only coffee hours or
call-in services, or catching up in the chat section of Facebook Live
instead of Zoom.
More here-
https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2020/05/18/zoom-outage-snarls-sunday-worship-services/
From RNS-
On Sunday, Alex Merritt was signed in to the Zoom video conferencing
app, discussing a biblical passage with members of his Sunday school
young adults group at St. David's Episcopal Church in Austin, Texas.
Then the trolls attacked.
Some began sharing their screens and drawing obscene images over the
text the group had been discussing. "You are being hacked! You are being
hacked!" one shouted. Another turned on his video and began revealing
his genitals.
“It was generally chaotic and impossible to stop,” recalled Merritt.
“It was a huge wake-up call for me because I'm an elementary public
school teacher, and I don't want the children in my class exposed to any
of the pornographic images that trolls sent us.”
The mass transition of houses of worship to Zoom and other online
video conferencing platforms has meant that religious services are more
accessible than ever before.
Unfortunately for digital congregants, that means they are also more
accessible to online trolls who have plenty of free time to disrupt
their services with obscene or hateful interruptions.
More here-
https://religionnews.com/2020/03/30/zoombombing-epidemic-comes-for-houses-of-worship/
From North Carolina-
When the coronavirus stories first started getting notice, I admit
that one area I didn’t think about being affected was church. Where
could you be more protected than in the Lord’s house?
But as the virus continued to spread across the country, first in
Wake County, and then to other counties across N.C., discussions began
about “social distancing,” staying at least six feet away from others,
and washing your hands frequently and not touching your face.
The first change that came down from the Episcopal Diocese of North
Carolina was to change from bread to wafers during communion and to sip
from the cup at the altar, not dip the wafer into the cup of wine. For
those who were at high risk or felt uncomfortable, they could receive a
blessing at the altar. That change felt weird, but was acceptable. Just
one week later that changed. Church was to close to all activities.
No church? Emotionally, I felt a sense of loss and isolation. I
depended on church – the fellowship of believers, the joyful music of
the choir, the scriptures and sermon to uplift my spirit and set the
tone for the following week. We’re in the season of Lent, a time of
reflection and sacrifice, but giving up church? Would we all be
wandering in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights?
More here-
https://wschronicle.com/2020/03/how-just-an-hour-changed-my-attitude-about-virtual-church/
From Rhode Island-
