Is It the Right Time for Churches to Reopen?

By Robin G. Jordan

In the United States a number of states are relaxing shelter at home orders and other public health measures not because the COVID-19 pandemic is showing signs of abating but due to political and economic pressures. The Commonwealth of Kentucky is one of them. A substantial number of people are justifiably nervous about what may be a premature reopening of their state.

Germany and South Korea which quickly implemented comprehensive public health measures to mitigate the pandemic and saw decreases in COVID-19 cases and deaths have experienced a resurgence of the virus upon reopening. The United States, on the other hand, has been slow and piecemeal in its response to the pandemic has seen a steady rise in cases and deaths. This rise becomes immediately apparent when the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths for New York City are omitted from the count. New York City has a very large population and has “flattened the curve” to some extent so its figures tend to skew the overall count.

In my community I see a mixed response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some people are wearing face masks and observing social distancing guidelines, others are not. The number of COVID-19 cases has been increasing. It was 37 confirmed cases at last report. Typically in outbreaks of infectious diseases the number of confirmed cases is only a percentage of the actual cases.

When I went shopping earlier today, one of the customers who was not wearing a face mask was poking fun at the other customers who were wearing masks. The store clerk was wearing a face mask but the delivery men were not. The customers were maintaining six feet between themselves but the delivery men were standing in close proximity to each other and were blocking the checkout.

Online I have encountered several worrisome attitudes. One is an attitude of fatalistic resignation. Individuals who adopt this attitude are essentially advocating a "do-nothing" response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The logic is that since we cannot achieve total safety, we should not make any effort to achieve any measure of safety. To my mind it is like saying to ourselves. "Since a meteorite might fall on my house, a sink hole might swallow my house, or my neighbor might go berserk and shoot or stab me, I might as well as ignore the "don't walk" signal and cross the street during rush hour traffic." We certainly cannot protect ourselves and others from every danger but that is no reason to recklessly endanger ourselves or others.

A second attitude is that everyone should be free to do their own thing. Those who want to shelter at home should do so but they should not interfere with those who do not want to shelter at home. There is no sense of shared responsibility for the safety and well-being of the community or recognition of how one's own behavior affects others. Imagine yourself in a lifeboat with two other companions. One of your companions begins to drill holes in the lifeboat, letting in sea water. You go to stop him but your other companion restrains you. “Leave him alone,” he says, “He’s doing his thing.” This illustration, I believe, shows us the absurdity of this kind of thinking.  What others do impacts us. What we do impacts them.

A third attitude is to assign a sinister meaning to the phrase, "new normal.” This attitude ignores the fact that what we consider normal is relative. It is determined by time and place, by historical epoch and culture. What was normal in 1958 differed from what became normal in 2008. In 1958 we had radio and TV but no internet and social media. What is normal here in Murray, Kentucky differs from what is normal in Osaka, Japan. Those who talk about returning things to the way they were before the COVID-19 pandemic fail to grasp the transitory nature of what we consider normal.

The use of the phrase, “new normal,” is not part of a conspiracy to establish the “New World Order,” take away people’s guns, or insert microchips into adults and children under the guise of vaccinating them against COVID-19. It simply describes the present state of our country due to COVID-19.

A fourth attitude is to shrug off the rising number of COVID-19 cases and deaths. It is an attitude of indifference to other people’s suffering, to their losses. It displays a lack of empathy with one’s fellow human beings and a preoccupation with self.

To the extent these attitudes are idiosyncratic and to the extent they are widespread, I do not know. They are a part of what I have described as “the pandemic of denial” that is accompanying the COVID-19 pandemic. That pandemic is hampering the US response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Because political and economic considerations, not public health ones, are driving the reopening of states, I believe that churches should take a wait and see attitude before they reopen. It is better to err on the side of caution than become the epicenter for a cluster of new COVID-19 cases and deaths. Churches may be worried about meeting their payroll but sick and dead church members are going to add to their financial woes. A church that is the epicenter of a cluster of COVID-19 cases and deaths is going to have a tough time attracting new people. The church may acquire a reputation of not giving a high enough priority to the safety and well-being of the community, particularly the older and more vulnerable members of the community.  Once a church acquires such a negative public image, it may prove impossible to overcome. Human fickleness may further take a toll as those who encouraged the church to reopen prematurely go elsewhere.