Three Approaches to Church During the Corona Season

I’ve been struggling to write about anything during this Corona time.  The profound cultural changes due to the pandemic have been unexpected, harsh, and fragmenting.  The collapse of our society has my mind in a perpetual funk.  What I might say has already been said and there are others who will say it better.  What can I possibly add to this conversation?  What can I add to help you with your struggle?  

Perhaps, I can share with you something that, in retrospect, has gone well for us this year.  We’ve managed, through all the changes and restrictions to still worship and pray with our family. 

A year ago, you would have laughed at me if I told you that.  However, now you are all too familiar with the problem plaguing us today: Corona restrictions have made attending church challenging.  

Perhaps you’ve even showed up at church only to be met with a clipboard and a question, “Did you RSVP?”  Or, you have someone in your home who is immunocompromised, and you can’t take the risk to attend group situations.  Maybe you’re pregnant and wearing a mask makes you feel lightheaded. There are a million reasons!

We need God right now.  

We can’t give up.

Here are some of the creative ways we have approached this challenging time.   

Read a Prayer Service Outisde

Thankfully, we have an Orthodox family in our neighborhood that we coordinate with to have reader services. During the spring and summer our two large families conjoined for Typika services on the dock. Typika is a reader’s prayer service when a priest is absent. Here is a link that will provide a pdf of the service for each Sunday of the year.

In the summer, when the weather is nice, having an outdoor Typika is a lovely event. In the fresh air, children have room to move around and they get a break from the ubiquitous screens. At some point in the summer, even church was on a screen. Praying outdoors is a time away, a mini retreat into nature, under the sun, to worship our God and Savior. We bring our icons and the service pages out to the dock where the sun is rising in the east. The sparkling water and the relative quiet makes it easy to pray here under the big sky. We sing the parts we can sing and read the parts we can’t. It is a brief service, but it keeps us in the habit of attending when we would not otherwise have the opportunity.

Attend a Zoom Service

Another way we have approached church is through Zoom. During the complete lockdown, a neighboring priest held Zoom vespers and Typika services from his home. Father Jacob would assign different parts of the service to various members. For example, a reader held the candle from his home while the priest read the gospel from his home and three singers (in the same family) sang from their home. We joined and everyone in our family felt like they were participating in some way. Incense and candles were burnt during the service and reverence was attempted as much as possible in a home with kids. Afterwards, we had a virtual coffee hour and visited with other parishioners. Personally, while I liked the Zoom services, this is not a format that I think is sustainable for a long period of time. Viewing services online, whether through Zoom or streaming, is challenging. It is difficult to stay focused. But, for the short term, this is an option to keep the habit of prayer and worship in the home.

Host an Outdoor Liturgy

Our priest recently organized one for our parish. Outdoors, the beauty and warmth of the sun bathed the attendees with the presence of the Almighty. People that we hadn’t seen in months showed up for the liturgy and it was a most happy affair. There is a bit of preparation for this option, but well worth the effort. The altar, icons and all the liturgical items have to brought outside. Weather is certainly a major factor. Even if you only do this once a month, or once during the summer, it is meaningful and surreal. The day we held our outdoor Liturgy, was miraculously, the day the heat broke here in north Georgia. Father Paul had a smile a mile wide when he saw such a full congregation. Children sat in groups on the grass and the teens stood under a tent. It was absolutely beautiful, and I would encourage every Orthodox Christian to attend such a service at least once in a lifetime.

I’m sure there are many other approaches to church-going when times are challenging as they’ve been.  With a bit of creativity and willingness, you can still worship and keep the ever-important faith routines, even during a complete economic and societal shutdown. I’m glad we made the effort as these have been memorable times with our family and friends. 

I bet you’ve experienced a creative approach to worship during this Corona Season.  If so, I would love to hear from you in the comments section.