In our Lutheran understanding of the offices of ministry, it is our pastors who hold the principal responsibility and authority for worship and spiritual life in our congregations. By extension, the synod bishop, whom our constitutions define as pastor to all the congregations, also shares responsibility for worship practices in the Synod’s congregations.
It is in that spirit that I wish to add an addendum to my
pastoral instruction of 29 February 2020
on the church’s response to the COVID-19 virus. Like that statement, this one is a reflection and recommendation from me to our pastors in particular, because in the end it is our pastors, informed by the church and the public health authorities, who must guide their congregations in determining the best practices in their contexts and locations.
Various churches and denominations have chosen various strategies to address worship practices in a time of contagious disease. Some of these denominations, in which the bishop can expect conformity with the bishop’s judgment, have made firm rulings on what their congregations may or may not do in the face of of these threats to public health. I am not a epidemiologist or a public health official, and I rely on—and commend to you—the advice of local authorities. Nor do I claim, as your bishop, the right to make these decisions for my congregations. But I urge us all to watchfulness and caution, and to care for our neighbors.
The Church of Christ has stood for millennia through times of crisis and plague, and within the boundaries of public law and personal freedom, I believe it is obligated to continue to offer opportunities for public worship to its people every Lord’s Day.
I do not recommend the cessation of public worship unless it becomes impossible or illegal to conduct it.
But individuals may choose not to attend if they are at risk, or even simply afraid of the danger of being in group gatherings.
Suggestions for congregational worship practices in a time of fear of contagion:
1.
The Passing of the Peace:
I recommend that, for a time, the passing of the peace be done verbally or through a gesture, and not through physical contact—or that (simplest of all) it simply be omitted altogether. It is a beloved practice, but is not liturgically obligatory. The passing of the peace, and other actions of greeting by physical touch, are—by far—the part of our worship that presents the greatest risk for person-to-person transmission of the COVID-19 virus.
2.
Holy Communion
: For most people, anxiety about the transmission of the virus seems to have focused most strongly on communion practices. No method of administering communion is without risk, but some practices carry a higher risk than others.
Congregational practices vary, but in every case, all persons who come in contact with the elements of communion and the vessels and linens that contain them (altar guilds), or who are involved in the distribution of communion (presiders and assistants), should be hyper-scrupulous in the washing or sanitizing of their hands. I also recommend that presiders and communion assistants sanitize their hands in sight of the congregation after the peace (if not omitted) and during the offering, and that they then do not touch the offering plates or anything else before the distribution of communion.
Congregations where a limited number of people touch the altar bread, and in which individual communion cups are used, probably have the lowest risk for transmission of a virus. A pouring chalice with individual cups is also lower-risk.
At the other end of the spectrum—with the highest risk—is communion by intinction, particularly if home-baked bread or whole loaves or flatbreads that are torn into irregular pieces are used. The danger of a person’s fingers touching the wine may be slightly less with wafers (particularly the larger ones), but the difference is likely not significant. The main issue is my experience, is eyesight; many communicants cannot accurately see the level of liquid in the chalice, and some contamination of the wine is nearly unavoidable.
Somewhere in-between, drinking directly from a silver chalice with a careful wiping of the rim with a very clean cloth that is changed frequently, is likely lower-risk than intinction. But it is not risk-free. The use of grape juice or non-alcoholic wine in a common cup is also far riskier than wine itself, especially fortified wine with a higher alcohol content. Ceramic or glass chalices do not have the slight antiseptic character of silver, though again, that difference may not be significant. No vessel that is porous (wood or unglazed ceramic) should ever be used for communion wine.
It may also be important to remind communicants that it is the long-established faith of the church catholic, reinforced and re-articulated in Lutheran theology, that the body and blood of Christ are both truly present under the forms both of bread and wine.
In other words, we normally commune in both bread and wine (to follow Jesus’ example and instruction) but any person who communes only with one element (the bread or the wine) receives the whole sacrament in its completeness. It is also never mandatory to receive communion at every worship service at which it is offered. Thus it is not only acceptable but even advisable that a person afraid of the transmission of the virus through wine should commune through the bread only.
3.
Holy
Baptism and baptismal water:
Water is also an element through which viruses and bacteria can be transmitted. If you have an open font or baptismal basin you keep filled for parishioners to dip fingers in, I recommend that you empty it for the time being. If it is an architectural water feature and impossible to empty, you might cover it or somehow block access to it. The public baptism of infants should be postponed until after the crisis has passed; the baptism of adults may safely be done with clean hands, a clean bowl or basin, and pure water. If you do more than one adult baptism in a service, it would be important to ensure that water that flows over one not subsequently be poured over others. Thanksgiving for Baptism liturgies may be done, but the water used should not remain where people will be tempted to dip their fingers in it afterwards. As ever, in the case of urgent pastoral need, an infant may be baptized privately and under controlled conditions.
4.
Holy Oils and the Anointing of the Sick
: Common sense should govern; do not contaminate your container of oil by touching its opening after anointing a sick person. Put some oil on a cotton ball, seal and put away the container, and use the oil on the cotton to anoint. If you are anointing multiple people, use the cotton ball itself (and not your finger or thumb) to anoint the person, discard the cotton, and use a clean cotton ball for the next person. If you have contaminated your bottle of blessed oil, discard it and call the synod office for a replacement.
5.
Coffee hour and social time:
Perhaps hardest of all, congregations should probably discontinue providing coffee, food, and other refreshments at church while the danger of transmission of the virus is great. Though hot coffee itself is entirely safe, there are too many people and too many hands involved in setting out a coffee hour to recommend the practice in a time such as this. Even prepackaged treats and drinks have to be handled by someone. Congregations which serve meals outside of worship as an extension of their commitment to service will need to consider those in light of local public health rules, but that lies outside the scope of this advisory.
It is very difficult for us to change—even temporarily—long-established habits. Pastors and other leaders will need to use common sense, patience, and compassion as we stumble along this path together. Our first duty as leaders is to reassure the fearful and strengthen the weak. It is my belief that it is still too early to know precisely how great the dangers are, but—perhaps especially—even when and if the dangers are known to be great, the church continues to be the church. The church’s duties are clear: to provide connection, hope, and the presence of Christ in Word and Sacrament in good times and in bad.
Know that you and all the faithful of our synod are in my prayers. May God bless and protect us all!
Out of the wilderness and pressing toward our Easter hope, I am
Yours in Christ,
