Coronavirus challenges affecting all religious denominations

Fears about the spread of the coronavirus are testing the faith of religious bodies and congregations throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Some, including the Diocese of Greensburg and the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, canceled worship services. Others are issuing guidance on everything from responsible behavior in church to alternatives to church attendance.

“If you are going to tell older people that are ill not to come to church, you need to tell them what they are supposed to do concerning their prayer life while they are home,” said Bishop Thomas (Joseph) of the Antiochian Orthodox Diocese of Charleston, W.Va., which includes Western Pennsylvania.

Canceling services was the exception, not the rule, but that changed Tuesday as denominations and individual churches responded to President Trump’s call for people to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people.

• The Byzantine Catholic hierarch for Pittsburgh joined the Roman Catholic bishops in suspending “all public liturgical celebrations” until further notice.
• St. James Lutheran Church in Youngs­town also on Tuesday canceled all church activities, including Wednesday Lenten Vespers, Sunday services and Sunday school through at least March 29. Church council will meet later to decide when to reopen.
• Nearly 100 Lutheran churches have canceled services in the last two days, according to the Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
• Metropolitan Joseph of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America instructed all parishes to limit service participation to clergy, servers and chanters. “No liturgical service can total more than 10 persons,” he said.
• Archbishop Melchisedek of the Orthodox Church in America’s Archdiocese of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania instructed parishes to “immediately cease all services, activities, social gatherings, etc.” Churches may continue to hold special services, such as funerals and baptisms, and may open on Sunday for candle lighting and private prayer.
• Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi of the United Methodist Church’s Western Pennsylvania Conference urged area Methodists to “follow the directions of our government and health officials,” including the restrictions on public gatherings.
• Metropolitan Savas of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Pittsburgh said services may continue, but people should stay home and participate via the internet.
• Late Wednesday afternoon, Bishop Dorsey McConnell of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh suspended “with a heavy heart” in-person services through Holy Week and Easter Sunday. The decision affects Episcopal parishes in seven counties: Allegheny, Armstrong, Cambria, Indiana, Somerset, Washington and Westmoreland.
• On Thursday, First English Evangelical Lutheran Church, 615 Grant St., Pittsburgh, canceled all public events and worship services until further notice. Virtual worship will be streamed live on Sunday mornings at 10.

Archbishop William C. Skurla of the Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh said he made the decision in light of new national guidelines asking people to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people.

“The faithful of the Archeparchy are dispensed from the obligation of attending Sunday and Holy Day Divine Liturgies, but you should continue to keep the Lord’s Day through prayer and support of those in need in your church,” he said in a letter. “Baptisms, weddings and funerals may be celebrated with only the immediate family present.”

Skurla noted that the Divine Liturgy at several area Byzantine Catholic parishes will be livestreamed in the coming weeks.

Churches that offer communion from a common cup or from a spoon are advising parishioners to use discretion when partaking.

In a list of directives issued March 12, Metropolitan Gregory of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of the U.S.A. said communion will be distributed as usual because “in the Orthodox understanding … the Eucharist cannot ever be a vector/method/way of illness or death.”

Congregation Emanu-El Israel in Greensburg suspended its Friday Shabbat services and other meetings for the next 30 days. Congregation members will be able to participate via video conferencing while Rabbi Leonard Sarko and the camera operator are at the synagogue.

Such a decision is not made lightly because worship, by definition, is a communal act, Sarko said.

“I’ve never seen anything quite like this,” Sarko said. “We do the best we can, but we will still support the congregation, or any Jewish person in need, religiously.”

Several Protestants denominations, while stopping short of advising the cancellation of services, are offering guidelines on how to proceed in light of a pandemic.

“Most people who know me know that I am averse to canceling services, but churches that choose to cancel and seek to provide alternative means of worshiping and connecting have my full support during this time of crisis,” said the Rev. David Ackerman, conference minister for the United Church of Christ, West Penn Conference.

Ackerman said pastors and local church leaders should have “robust conversations” about expectations and procedures, and should consider livestreaming options.

“While I believe it is of great importance that we continue to worship on Sundays, to offer the ‘sacrifice of praise’ on behalf of the church and the world, I do not want our public gatherings to contribute to a public health crisis,” McConnell said in a letter dated March 13.

With the onset of public gathering restrictions, more than a quarter of the Episcopal diocese’s 36 congregations have begun streaming their worship services, McConnell said.

Among those canceling services for the time being is Cornerstone Ministries, a nondenominational mega church on Route 22 in Murrysville.

“After prayerful conversation with our church elders and staff, we are temporarily postponing all ministry events” through March 27, the church posted on its Facebook page, where it intends to livestream this weekend’s message.

Churches are advising members to avoid close contact with each other while in church, to regularly wash or sanitize their hands while in church, and to not come to church if they are sick.

The Rev. Sheldon Sorge, general minister of the Pittsburgh Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (USA), said it is no longer “business as usual” for churches.

“I encourage us to think not only of what we might prudently curtail for a season, but also where we might expand our commitments to our life together,” Sorge said in a letter dated March 14. “Perhaps we’ll not meet for a meal, but could be more vigilant to bring meals to the sick and elderly who must be especially mindful of the need to shelter in place.”

People who do not attend religious services out of health concerns should not feel guilty, said Bishop Kurt F. Kusserow of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod.

“Each of our members is free to determine how their actions would best care for their neighbors, even if that means deciding not to join larger assemblies of the congregation for a season,” Kusserow said.

One Lutheran church that has decided to temporarily suspend services is St. James Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ligonier. In a letter explaining the 15-day cancellation, the Rev. Jerry Nuernberger reached into his bag of sermon metaphors.

“The world is throwing us quite a curve ball, but thanks be to God that we have a batting instructor who has hit every curve ball out of the park — Jesus Christ,” Nuernberger said. “As we step up to the plate in these next weeks and months, we do so with novelty being thrown at us, but also with Jesus teaching us how to swing the bat.”

Christian Associates of Southwest Pennsylvania, which represents 28 church bodies in 10 counties, has posted “Resources for a Faithful Response” to the coronavirus to its website.