Editorial: Faith, the faithful and coronavirus

Three parishioners at one East Liberty church have tested positive for coronavirus.

The Eastminster Presbyterian Church’s Pastor Paul Roberts and two other members have covid-19, providing sobering evidence of how even the places we feel safest have to be approached with caution in the midst of a pandemic.

It’s also a reminder that faith doesn’t live in four walls.

Churches and other worship communities throughout the area are finding new ways to help support their followers as government leaders continue to cut the recommended size of gatherings to smaller and smaller groups.

“We are preparing to do this through online services, conference calls, and one-on-one phone conversations,” a letter from Eastminster to parishioners said.

The dioceses of Pittsburgh and Greensburg have already canceled masses, classes, study groups and even those mainstay Lenten fish fry dinners. Synagogues like Rodef Shalom in Pittsburgh and Congregation Emanu-El Israel in Greensburg are likewise suspending worship services and other meetings.

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

Decisions like this put the health and safety of the community first. But creative ways to support the followers acknowledge that, to paraphrase Matthew 4:4, we do not live by bread alone.

People need to feel connected, not only to their creator, but to other people who share their belief systems. Maintaining those kind of bonds will be important to making it through the “social distancing” that officials say will be critical to suppressing how coronavirus spreads and keeping it from overwhelming medical facilities.

It is particularly important to recognize that many of the most consistent presences in houses of worship are senior citizens, who are among those most at risk for the disease.

The outside-the-pew ideas can work. Everyone just has to call on the faith that sustains them.