As COVID-19 restrictions return, Sacramento religious worship will go virtual again

Drive-through communion will continue indefinitely at St. John’s Lutheran Church in midtown.

Virtual worship services will be the norm going into the holidays at Bayside Church.

Next month’s outdoor menorah lighting at Congregation B’nai Israel is still planned but, like so much else, subject to the spread of COVID-19.

Leaders across Sacramento’s faith community are trying to show optimism and patience in the face of yet another round of restrictions wrought by a surge in coronavirus cases. The California Department of Public Health on Tuesday moved Sacramento County into the “purple tier” — the most extreme category for coronavirus limitations.

Places of worship must cease in-person indoor services, assuming they restarted them at all.

“I’m not loving it,” said Rabbi Mona Alfi with Congregation B’nai Israel, the region’s largest synagogue. “But I’d rather do less funerals than more. Whatever we need to do to keep people safe and healthy, I’m happy to inconvenience my life for the sake of keeping people healthy.”

Congregation B’nai Israel has operated remotely since the earliest days of the pandemic. Its proximity to a noisy freeway makes outdoor services out of the question. Alfi said attendance at virtual Shabbat ceremonies has never been higher as people increasingly look for ways to anchor their weeks in uncertain times when days blur together.

“Physical isolation doesn’t mean social isolation,” she said. “It’s more important than ever that as this drags on that we do what we need to to keep each other physically safe and emotionally healthy,”

Tuesday’s renewed restrictions came amid an increasing number of coronavirus infections and people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the region. Sacramento County in recent weeks has averaged 9.7 new cases per 100,000 residents, well above the cutoff of 7.0 required for the red tier. The rate of positive tests has also increased in three consecutive weeks to 4.1%.

“This (past) weekend, we saw a sharp increase (in cases), probably due to Halloween celebrations,” said Sacramento County Health Officer Dr. Olivia Kasirye. “People are ignoring our advice not to gather, and we are feeling the impacts of that.”

It’s unclear exactly how much of the increase is directly because of places of worship.

Indoor activity fuels COVID cases

Health experts widely agree, however, that prolonged period of time indoors in close proximity to others while singing and embracing contributes to the spread of COVID-19.

At St. John’s, not much will actually change, said Linda Baldwin, the church’s executive director of administration. Officials there have held back on reopening in-person services, opting instead for physically distanced events in the park and virtual worship ceremonies for the roughly 900 people who gather each Sunday.

“We’ve chosen purposefully to be more cautious and make our decisions based on one tier behind,” Baldwin said. “When we were in red, we considered ourselves still in purple.”

“When we do reopen, it will be wonderful.”

The state’s original ban on in-person services has been among the most controversial during the pandemic response. Protests and lawsuits, some backed by a conservative legal group, have followed throughout the shutdown and limited reopenings.

Members of congregations across the region have contracted COVID-19. Several have died.

Some proponents argue the orders cannot apply to churches because their services are essential or that enforcing a shut-down order would infringe on their First Amendment rights.

Federal judges broadly upheld orders. Last week a California judge ordered a San Jose church to stop indoor services and granted county officials a restraining order against the church that has accrued more than $350,000 in fines for violating coronavirus orders.

Most worshipers across the state have generally complied with the restrictions.

Places of worship have had to toggle throughout the pandemic. Bayside Church, with campuses throughout the Sacramento region, transitioned to a hybrid model with online services and reservation-only in-person events. Now everything will be forced back online once again.

“As suicides, abuse and mental illnesses continue to rise, the church is essential to meeting these needs,” said Mark Miller, a Bayside Church spokesman. “We are working to give those people options to get the help they need while at the same time increasing safety protocols for any gatherings.”

Major events have also felt the pressure.

Sikh organizers canceled the Yuba City Nagar Kirtan, an annual event the first weekend of November that typically draws more than 100,000 people from across the country. Houses of worship have continued to follow local rules and planned to continue expanding volunteer work in the coming weeks “as we weather this next wave together,” said Winty Singh, a Sacramento organizer with the Sikh Coalition.

“While we’re all disappointed by the disruption in day-to-day life, we know that public health recommendations are meant to safeguard the health of the most vulnerable among us,” Singh said Tuesday.

Health officials in September modified the rules and allowed places of worship to accommodate up to 25% of their capacity indoors, with additional modifications. They hoped to see the county move into the orange tier, which would have allowed for even greater reopenings.

Then the backslide began.

Sacramento County health officials reported 707 new coronavirus cases for the three-day period ending Monday. The county has tallied more than 28,000 cases and 513 deaths since the pandemic began.

There were 136 patients hospitalized with coronavirus in Sacramento County as of Monday, a surge from the 90 reported Friday, according to state data. The number of ICU patients also increased to 27, up from 20 on Friday.

“I feel the pain and the disappointment,” said Kasirye, the health officer. “We were doing so well. We need to all come to the realization that all of us need to do our part in following the guidance and not picking and choosing when to wear masks.

“We know it works. We all need to make sacrifices. We need to do it together so that it pays off.”