Covid-19 demands churches be less procedural, ritualistic

By Dr. George Jacob

Kochi, June 14, 2020: The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has affected every sector of human involvement. The two principal modes of transmission of SARS-CoV-2-(1) through respiratory droplets of those infected and, (2) fomites necessitate people to maintain minimum distance of 1 meter while interacting, and to limit common handling of physical articles by large number of people and stringent hand hygiene.

These requirements have turned societal norms topsy-turvy. Classroom education has given way to the internet, and hospitals to tele-medicine.

Congregational worship in churches adopted Online and You-Tube services, or just praying as family in the safety of their homes. It seemed the pandemic has given God that much-needed reprieve, presuming God still exists within four walls of palatial and colossal ‘places of worship’ of today despite sleazy goings-on within them. Irrespective of religion.

The church too foresees a plethora of changes and modifications in its functioning. it is inevitable. Containment of the pandemic demands those changes- right from the ‘womb to the tomb’ journey of a so-called ‘faithful’. The church will have alcohol-based sanitizers in place of holy water and oil. Use of holy water and oil is empty rituals that can afford to go. Sprinkling water on the congregation will stop.
• To begin with, baptism is probably the very first church-related event that a Christian goes through. Apart from limitation of number of people gathered for the event, the practice of mass Baptisms practiced in some churches will cease. The priest might not be allowed to carry the christenee in the characteristic vice-like grip. The picture of a baptism circulating on WhatsApp in the post- ‘Covidian’ times comes to mind. A man is seen holding up the christenee by the armpits. Across the baptism stall stands the priest with a water pistol aimed at the christenne’s forehead! That might actualize!
• Confession requires communication between the priest and the confessant at close quarters- a sure recipe for viral spread. The confessional chamber will give way to confession through WhatsApp, email or even a mobile phone through SMS or voice calls. Written confessions are better avoided as they could be used by priests to blackmail confessants for wanton favors, as had happened in ‘pre-Covidian’ times. Involvement of hi-fi technology might even render confession redundant, which it actually is. There is no place for a mediator or intercession between God and man. Not even a saint. Let alone the priest, whose credentials these days leave much to be desired for a mediator. Why is a mediator actually required when Christ is around?
• The sacrament of receiving communion will undergo a sea-change. This is one Christian practice which augurs viral transmission significantly through the hands of the priest serving communion to a multitude. Part taking of the wine from a single chalice is a big NO, as is use of the spoon. The Anglican Church I used to frequent as a teenager had wine served in small individual cups placed in a wooden frame that had holes to hold the cups on the altar fencing where communicants would kneel. That’s worth considering. Similarly, the blessed host too must be placed separately for individual communicant along with the blessed wine.
• Weddings too will look for new format. Use of masks would obviate services of beauticians, helping already financially harassed families save precious money. Large gatherings inside churches will go, which will throw out elements of perennial nuisance like photographers, uninterested onlookers, decorators and an army of priests and bishops who aren’t really essential. Christians will need to explore other avenues to showcase financial clout and snobbery. All redundant practices of the priest coming in physical contact with the couple, on the excuse of blessings and prayers, as practiced by the Malankara church must cease to exist. Couples will anyway be blessed by God Himself. As weddings happen in Heaven anyway.
• The choir might become extinct eventually. The incident of the ‘Washington Super-spreader’, a COVID-19 infected causing infection of 52 others, and also leading to the death of 2 among them at a choir practice in Mount Vernon, Washington is still fresh in our minds. Forceful singing, required of choirs is fraught with droplet transmission bigtime. This will come as huge disappointment personally, as I go to church only to listen to choir render hymns, and to sing with them.
• The Congregation must strictly adhere to social distancing while sitting or standing inside the church. Half-empty pews and chapels will be the norm. Dreamy and somnolent worshippers will pray from home. Needless to say, one of the most obnoxious practices of exchanging peace between congregation through greeting with hands will be shown the way out through the wide-open church door. Christians do not need to exchange peace physically they need to live peacefully.
• Offertories will no longer be dropped inside cloth bags or plates passed around, but will be dropped into boxes with wide openings placed liberally inside churches to prevent crowding.
• All church-related events like harvest festivals and feasts of saints which have church compounds resemble Kolkata’s Eden Garden during a cricket world-cup match will stop. Historically those events have not contributed to further Christianity’s wholesomeness. They have served to fatten the church’s’ bank balance. Christ will not be thus required to pick up the lash he dropped yeas back at the temple of Jerusalem!
• Rituals that cause public inconvenience like processions and wayside sales related to feasts cannot be persisted with, as social distancing is key.
• Sunday Schools and confirmation classes will go online.
• The practice of kissing holy books and idols too will have to be abandoned.
• Finally, when someone is laid to eternal rest, people must limit attendance. Dearth of space in overcrowded cemeteries will have the church consider cremation, even if Christians who are cremated shudder at the prospect of resurrecting as a pillar of ash when the last bugle sounds, as one of my colleagues joked!