Changes in Religious Community with Lifting of Covid-19 Restrictions

For religious institutions that are deeply grounded in history and tradition, the pandemic has been a test of their adaptability. Religious institutions in Westwood modified their normal activities, under state rules and at their own risk-tolerances. As Covid-19 restrictions lift, the town’s religious institutions continue to find their own ways of operating within a new normal.

“Everything changed overnight,” says the Rev. Dr. Jennifer Phillips of St. John’s Episcopal Church, recalling the beginning days of the pandemic and shut-down in Massachusetts. In Spring 2020, Rev. Dr. Phillips found herself leading livestream services solo, setting up her cell phone on a tripod that she operated herself. “Holy Week and Easter was awful and lonely, but it was the best we could do,” she recalls.

It is one year later, and St. John’s is holding in-person, outdoor services. Athletic chalk marks square boundaries set 6 feet apart for socially distanced household seating. Other modifications have been made, such as avoiding the tradition of using a common cup for communion.

“We’re being careful, but heading toward a soft opening,” says Rev. Dr. Phillips. “We have a pretty well-educated congregation with health professionals and scientists. They unanimously agreed to being science driven, careful, and to slowly reopen.”

First Parish of Westwood similarly adopted livestream services early on, and delayed a return to in-person services until the end of May 2021. In its first online offerings of the pandemic, the Rev. Christopher Dodge aimed a camera at himself in a mostly empty sanctuary, with just Music Director Dr. Sarah Tocco playing piano off-camera. With the Rev. Dodge’s departure last year to another church, Interim Pastors the Rev. Dr. Jill Edens and the Rev. Richard Edens have continued virtual services with pre-recorded weekly videos and live monthly Zoom communions.

On Sunday, May 24, 2021, First Parish returned to in-person service for the first time in over a year, beginning to “find our way back to worship as we remember it,” say the Revs. Edens. With windows open in the sanctuary, masks on, and socially distanced seating, attendees are asked to sign-in to enable contact tracing. Congregational singing is not yet planned, but a small number of choir members have sung on Sundays, with several feet of spacing between each member. Sunday School at First Parish has not yet begun, but children are encouraged to attend service with their families. Indoor and outdoor children’s activities are planned. The church has noted the need for continued flexibility.

In contrast to St. John’s and First Parish’s slower return to in-person worship, Saint Margaret Mary Parish reopened with an in-person outdoor mass in May 2020 after only two months of exclusively online services, according to Rev. Father Paul Soper. For over a full year, Saint Margaret Mary has held an outdoor, in-person mass, in addition to livestreaming masses.

The Rev. Father Soper says that with the state’s lifting of Covid-19 restrictions, Saint Margaret Mary will fully reopen and have a summer of parish activities, including Bible studies, outdoor gatherings around a fire, and in-person church attendance. Both indoor and outdoor masses will continue, with indoor masses dividing the attendees in half. Those choosing to wear masks and social distance will sit on one side of the church. Those who choose not to wear a mask will sit on the other side. Online masses will continue, along with online prayers on Facebook, three times a day.

First Baptist Church of Westwood sits in the middle of the road regarding the speed at which Westwood churches are returning to in-person services. In Spring 2020, Rev. Dr. Stephanie Salinas was emailing inspirational messages and pre-recorded sermons to her congregation. Last June, First Baptist began holding Sunday services in-person, with masks, at its outdoor chapel. Those attending the outdoor services sat at socially distanced intervals in their own chairs or on church seating. In the event of rain, service would be exclusively virtual.

As First Baptist contemplates fully reopening, the Rev. Dr. Salinas notes two considerations. First, there is the consideration of physical health. Some people remain unvaccinated. Secondly, there is a mental and emotional consideration. Not everyone comes out of the pandemic with the same experiences, she observes. The Rev. Dr. Salinas shares a personal example. Her father became ill and died alone in the hospital in the early days of the pandemic. “Scientifically, I know it’s safe [now], but I carry a certain trauma,” she says.

For now, First Baptist will continue its outdoor services with social distancing , but masks will now be optional. In July, congregational singing will resume. In August or September, virtual communions may be replaced with in-person communions.

“There’s a lot of ‘open-close’ language,” observes Rev. Dr. Salinas. In my mind, the church has been open all along, even if we haven’t been in the same room.” Although the Reverend will be leaving First Baptist this month for Florida in a long-anticipated move that “feels God-led,” she wants people to know that, “We are open to the community. We want to be there for you. If people are struggling, we want people to know we are here . . . .Covid has made us all deal with the unpredictability of life. No matter how much you think your ducks are in a row, we don’t have all our ducks in a row. I think that faith is a way to deal with that. Faith and trust in a power greater than Covid gives us security,” she says.

Like Westwood's churches, Temple Beth David also abandoned in-person indoor services for a virtual experience during the Covid crisis. It has adopted modified, in-person gatherings at a speed similar to First Baptist. Last summer, it started hosting Shabbat on the Lot, an in-person, outdoor, weekly service held in its expansive parking lot.

Although the temple has eschewed in-person, indoor services, Vice President of Membership Alana Sharenow believes Temple Beth David is one of the few religious communities that ran an in-person religious school during the earlier part of the pandemic. In warmer weather, the temple held classes outdoors. In winter, students gathered indoors with masks on, windows wide open, and bundled in coats.

With the reopening, Temple Beth David plans to continue its socially distanced outdoor services, Shabbat in the Lot, but with less distance. Ms. Sharenow anticipates that soon masks will also come off and that social gatherings such as bat mitzvahs will become more common.

She personally hopes to bring back the socializing. When Ms. Sharenow had the opportunity to see some people in person for the first time at a recent confirmation, she almost cried.

The pandemic has created some notable changes in Westwood’s religious communities. One obvious change is the livestreaming or video recording of services. Providing an online experience has attracted participation from an additional number of community members. Despite a return to in-person services, all of the religious institutions surveyed for this article have so far kept services available online.

Rev. Dr. Salinas notes that all churches will need to answer a few questions about the new online audience. “Where are these YouTube people? How are they part of fellowship? Are they part of fellowship? And will they continue to be part of the church?” she wonders.

Another, less obvious change seems likely a reaction to social distancing. There is a greater cognizance, desire for, or deliberateness in group belonging. The Rev. Father Soper describes it as a greater degree of intentional outreach. People are calling each other and praying for one other in a deliberate way compared to the more random, happenstance contacts made in pre-pandemic times, he says. He also notices a “big uptick” in entire families attending services. “Families are together much more than before.”

The Rev. Dr. Phillips notes that for most clergy, a painful part of the pandemic had been being unable to see people in-person when they are sick or in trouble. “We were doing everything we could to keep in touch with each other,” she says. She gave her pandemic drive-by greetings to congregants as an example.  Now, she is happy to be able to truly visit again. “It feels so good now to gather outdoors and see each other. You don’t take it for granted when we have had such a long fast from being together.”

Thanks to the Rev. Dr. Jill Edens, the Rev. Richard Edens, the Rev. Dr. Jennifer Phillips, the Rev. Dr. Stephanie Salinas, Ms. Alana Sharenow, and the Rev. Father Paul Soper for contributing information for this article.  If you enjoyed this article, please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to Westwood Minute's email newsletter for free. Just click the blue "Sign Up" button below.