{"id":1318991,"date":"2020-03-20T17:20:52","date_gmt":"2020-03-20T23:20:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=994886"},"modified":"2020-03-20T17:20:52","modified_gmt":"2020-03-20T23:20:52","slug":"churches-going-virtual-in-new-realm-of-social-distancing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/churches-going-virtual-in-new-realm-of-social-distancing\/","title":{"rendered":"Churches going virtual in new realm of social-distancing"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Rifle United Methodist Presbyterian Church is one of many churches in Garfield County that has had to cancel their worship services due to the social distancing to stop the spread on COVID-19. (Kyle Mills \/ Post Independent) <\/strong>
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Areas churches are turning to the internet to provide weekly worship services, given the new normal prohibiting gatherings of 10 or more people for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n

The measures come amid tightening efforts to control the new coronavirus spread, and the strategy known as social distancing \u2014 no gatherings of more than 10 people, with a 6-foot separation between people even in small-group settings. <\/p>\n

Some smaller churches have canceled worship services altogether, in person or otherwise, for the time being. But they, too, are exploring platforms like Zoom.us or Facebook to live-stream Sunday worship services.<\/p>\n

Others have already begun live-streaming or pre-recording services, including music and the weekly sermon, and sharing it after the fact on church websites or Facebook pages.<\/p>\n

Mountain View Church in Glenwood Springs has canceled in-person services for the near future, and instead is recording services with the worship band and sermon, then posting it on Facebook at 10:15 a.m. on Sundays.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just trying to create that normalcy, so we\u2019re still gathering, but the only difference is people can gather in their own homes,\u201d Mountain View Pastor Steve Grosz said. \u201cUntil something changes with the ban, we\u2019re just trying to think through other ways to do things.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the meantime, monetary offerings can also be made via online platforms, or sent via mail, he and pastors of other area churches said.<\/p>\n

St. Stephen Catholic Church in Glenwood has canceled all weekday and weekend Masses, along with other church and school activities. Starting last Sunday, the church began providing Sunday Mass in English and Spanish on Facebook.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis week, we recorded two weekday Masses. And, since we normally celebrate daily Mass, we\u2019ll attempt to record three or four this coming week,\u201d Father Bert Chilson said.<\/p>\n

A small group of people are on hand in person, running technology for the recordings and serving as Sacristans and Lectors, as well as musicians.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the weekend, we had over 2,700 hits on our two Facebook Masses,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s very strange celebrating Mass to an empty church. At the same time, the sense of what we call Eucharistic presence and spiritual Communion is very palpable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Sobering thought\u2019<\/h4>\n

Rev. Dave Lillie, who co-pastors the Glenwood Springs, Carbondale and Basalt Methodist Churches with his wife, Rev. Carol Lillie, said the area churches have canceled in-person worship services at the recommendation of Bishop Karen Oliveto, who oversees the Mountain Sky Conference.<\/p>\n

And, the reality is the situation will very likely impact Holy Week and Easter services April 5-12. <\/p>\n

Higher church leadership has noted that it\u2019s time to \u201cembrace technology\u201d as a means to offer worship and devotional opportunities, Lillie said.<\/p>\n

During a recent video conference with other Methodist clergy, he said one pastor at a small-town church indicated she was under pressure last week not to cancel face-to-face services.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe declined, and two days later three of the people who would have been present tested positive (for COVID-19),\u201d Lillie said. \u201cIn her words, \u2018By selfishly getting together on Sunday morning, we could have infected hundreds or even thousands.\u2019 That\u2019s a sobering thought.\u201d<\/p>\n

No church exemption<\/h4>\n

The 10-person limit on gatherings, per the latest statewide executive order from Gov. Jared Polis on Wednesday, does apply to churches, according to Carrie Godes, Garfield County Public Health Specialist.<\/p>\n

\u201cPublic Health staff is explaining to church representatives that there are no exemptions for faith-based organizations,\u201d Godes said.<\/p>\n

Some churches have tried to justify more than 10 people for worship services by separating groups of 10 (or 50 under the previous order) into different parts of the building.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s possible, hypothetically, Godes said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut they would have to stay 6 feet apart and only be there 10 minutes, and then they would have to move people back out,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Enforcement on any groups violating the order is strictly complaint-driven, though, \u201cif someone wishes to notify law enforcement when events are going on\u201d<\/p>\n

A violation \u2014 be it a church, restaurant, night club or any other entity falling under the restrictions \u2014 is a class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by a $1,000 fine and a year in jail.<\/p>\n

If Public Health is notified, it can\u2019t be the enforcer, Godes said, but can explain the rules and refer the matter to law enforcement. <\/p>\n

Comforting words<\/h4>\n

Area pastors whose churches have gone to an online format for worship services said it\u2019s crucial to maintain faith connections for people, especially during this time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re posting something almost daily or at least every other day, so it\u2019s almost better now because we\u2019re staying connected with people more than just weekly,\u201d New Creation Church co-Pastor Mark Bintliff said.<\/p>\n

New Creation moved to an online format last Sunday, running Facebook Live on its early 8:30 a.m. service, sharing it again at 10:30, and then going live again at 6 p.m.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re limiting our live worship team to 10 to do the production \u2026 and we\u2019re hoping to integrate a small children\u2019s video for children\u2019s church,\u201d Bintliff, who co-pastors the church with his wife, Tasha, said. \u201cOur message is to really put faith in God, and not allow the fear to overcome us \u2014 and to walk in love with our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Orchard Church in Carbondale has also begun using Facebook to share its 10 a.m. Sunday service.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are definitely looking for a voice of peace in the midst of the global panic,\u201d Orchard Pastor Daniel Self said. \u201cWith the constant stream of worry that is coming from different sources, I wanted to position ourselves as a fresh spring of hope and peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Self also spoke to the fear factor amid the current global pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re currently facing two issues \u2014 one is a virus, the other is fear. I\u2019ve found that the fear has a far higher contagion rating than the virus,\u201d Self said. \u201cWhile we have wise precautions to take for the virus \u2026 we really haven\u2019t been given any wise precautions for the fear outbreak.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe truth is, there is a vaccine for fear, and it\u2019s faith,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Added Father Chilson, \u201cI think people really know that we are universally united in this crisis, not only as a church but as a world community. It\u2019s wonderful to feel and know of those common prayers and support.\u201d<\/p>\n

jstroud@postindependent.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Rifle United Methodist Presbyterian Church is one of many churches in Garfield County that has had to cancel their worship services due to the social distancing to stop the spread on COVID-19. (Kyle Mills \/ Post Independent) Areas churches are turning to the internet to provide weekly worship services, given the new normal prohibiting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1318991","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-25 07:14:34","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1318991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318991\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1318991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1318991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1318991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}