Masks compulsory in church from 8th August (and other religious buildings)

How are you taking communion? Our church has not done that for months for obvious reasons. I have declined to go back to church when they opened because I’m gong on holiday on Sunday and didn’t want to risk having to isolate and not be able to go.

I will wear one if necessary but services without communion and singing are not the same

We are allowed the Host, but not the wine, have been taking it for the past couple of Sundays. Approach arms outstretched, and wafer is dropped into my hands by priest's outstretched hand. They are not allowed to say 'The body of Christ', all done in silence. No singing permitted, apart from a cantor behind a perspex screen.

But having to wear a mask is the last straw, why don't they think these things through? There isn't a shred of science that says there is any more risk from a choir singing, we are having to wait for a research paper to come out in August. So if we are condemned to wear masks - until we get to the cafe - can we then sing with them on?

Totally agree with comments made.

I feel your pain some of these decisions seem to have been made on the hoof rather than following the science.

My church has not yet restarted services in church but when we do, all the rules will be adhered to. We have no choice. I agree that it will be far safer than any pub or restaurant, and would much prefer no masks, but those are the rules, unfortunately. We are not going to have Communion yet and I am glad as I am not keen on the idea that only the priest can have the wine. No Communion and no singing is a rather bleak prospect, so I am glad that online services will continue.

I agree it is ridiculous that you can go to a restaurant without needing a mask, but I am glad that the churches are being responsible about trying to stop the spread of infection.

Our nearest church is just across the border in Germany.

There you wear your mask until you sit down in your pew. They are marked off at 2 m. intervals on every second pew. No one sits on the intervening pews.

You can take your mask off during Mass, but put it on again to go up for communion. The priest disinfects his hands immediately before handing out the Host. Before going into the church you write your name and phone number on a slip that you place face downwards in a letter tray. It will only be used if someone who attended Mass becomes ill with covid19.

It works well enough, and is far better than the churches remaining closed.

I genuinely don't know why it matters if you are wearing a mask in church.

Why is it getting you all indignant and stirred up?

The rules now allow a small choir to sing in church, with social distancing of course. Masks on when not singing.
It did seem a bit unreasonable that the congregation are not allowed to sing. Only about 20 people, all spread out. If we can safely sing, why can’t everyone?
It was a real privilege to sing last Sunday.

Illte
What about freedom of worship? To some of us the rituals involved in church services are important, inviolate and should not be tampered with. They have been our way of worshipping for over 1500 years.

It does seem that all these decisions are made on the hoof without any research basis. If I can sit in a restaurant all evening, or in a pub, with no mask on and probably only a metre away from someone else, having to fiddle around with a mask on and off in a large airy church doesn't seem consistent. If you can take a mask off for eating, and a communion service is just that, then you should be able to dispense with it if other precautions are taken.

You wear a mask out of love and concern for others. That surely is close to the heart of most religions.
I am shocked at the attitude shown by several on this thread.

We are fighting an unknown foe and only have the present science to guide us. We have a responsibility to society at large, the week and the elderly especially. Stop complaining, you are showing yourselves to be unworthy.

GrannyRose15

Illte
What about freedom of worship? To some of us the rituals involved in church services are important, inviolate and should not be tampered with. They have been our way of worshipping for over 1500 years.

You are free to worship - with a mask. What is the big deal ?

The expression is; “ where there’s a till there’s a will”
Churches don’t make money.

What the OP is pointing out is the irrationality of so many of the rules we currently live by, which undermine people's trust and respect in the regulations that now bind us.

B9 is pointing out the irrationality between laws governing us in church against the relaxed attitudes in a far more infective place like a cafe.

It is like the rules that state that 6 people from six diffferent households can meet, but 7 people from 2 households cannot. Surely the most dangerous of those 2 groups is the one with the most households, not the one with 1 extra person.

What the OP is doing is whining about being forced to protect the weak and vulnerable. Just the opposite of Christian values and indeed the values of most religions.

M0nica

What the OP is pointing out is the irrationality of so many of the rules we currently live by, which undermine people's trust and respect in the regulations that now bind us.

B9 is pointing out the irrationality between laws governing us in church against the relaxed attitudes in a far more infective place like a cafe.

It is like the rules that state that 6 people from six diffferent households can meet, but 7 people from 2 households cannot. Surely the most dangerous of those 2 groups is the one with the most households, not the one with 1 extra person.

I agree with B9. Its illogical

I disagree with Granny Rose,

I just can’t bear hearing whingeing about masks sorry.

Good heavens, I am not 'whining about being forced to protect the weak and vulnerable'. I will happily wear a mask to do that in spaces where they might conceivably be at risk from me. As M0nica says, I was just pointing out the inconsistencies in the current legislation. Communion is supposed to be a communal meal, and yet the only one, in a very large, airy space, where you are required to wear a mask.

Bear with me. The only church services Ive ever been to are weddings and funerals. And not many of those.

So what happens at Communion? I mean I know what it is as a ritual but what do you actually do.

You sit down (with mask), There would be a hymn but now there isn’t. You follow the set pattern of words. Then you take your mask off? And somebody brings you the bread and wine?

And you put your mask back on?

How else is it different from what you usually do?

I’m not stirring. The difference is obviously important to some people.

Illte It is different. There is no singing, talking or handshaking or touching and all those attending are socially distancing.

A church service, whether a Comminion service or any other, is more than anything a communal service which brings people together and usually the service does bring people together. In that way it is very similar to 6 people sitting around a table in a cafe having coffee together.

That is why, masks being needed in one and rigid social distancing, whereas in the other, these rules either do not apply or are honoured more in their neglect rather observance are so puzzling.

Sorry, should have started above In church, it is different......

So is it the distancing and what the mask represents, more than the mask itself?

I’m finding it quite hard to get a picture n my mind.

I can see it’s quite a solitary experience at the moment.

There is singing in some churches. I have a friend who is in the church choir and one of them sings each week, they take it in turns.

Although my church choir restarted, just a small number of us between 3 and 6 with social distancing, I have now decided not to attend any more for the time being, given that we are in Tier 3 with rising numbers of cases. It just seems too risky.

I love singing and it makes all the difference to a service, but I want to stay safe. Apart from going to the nearest shop, church was the only place I was going to, so it is a real loss. Thankfully there are still online services,

B9exchange didn’t say anything about not wanting to wear her mask, she was merely comparing one situation with another. I agree with her, it’s odd on the face of it. No pun intended ?