ST. LOUIS — The recent surge in the omicron COVID-19 variant has prompted St. Louis-area churches to, once again, revisit their attendance and health-safety policies.
Christ Church Cathedral Pastor Kathie Adams-Shepherd preached to an empty house Sunday, unless you count the 28 people watching the live stream on their website and Facebook Live.
Volunteer technical director Steve Alagna said, “We have three different cameras going, and they’re set up in different places in the nave. I’m switching back and forth between different cameras, depending on what’s going on in the service.”
Alagna said this is a nod to the new reality.
"We made the decision not to gather in person because of the pandemic and safety concerns and the desire to keep everyone safe and healthy in our congregation," said Alagna.
First Congregational Church of Webster Groves-United Church of Christ reinstituted their mask mandate a week ago. The mask mandate is part of a two-pronged approach, which includes an online presence and people in the pews.
Pastor David Denoon said, “I think we underestimated what our capabilities were.”
Denoon said that this new way of doing things has revealed some advantages.
“What we discovered during the real surge of COVID, last year,” he said, “was that we actually had more people worshipping together on a Sunday morning when we were doing it both in-person and online.”
Denoon said churches have learned online streaming also allows people to tune in to weddings and memorial services who otherwise could not attend, for whatever reason.