Coronavirus Is Forcing Black Churches to Make Tough Choices
What responsibilities do pastors owe to their congregants to keep them safe?
In a world that seeks to push Black people to the depths of despair, Sunday proves those forces do not win. Perhaps that is why the threat of the Covid-19/coronavirus pandemic presented a greater cause for concern. As it swept through the country, coronavirus posed risk to the one day many Black Americans hoped would make sense of the week’s chaos. Among a Sunday kind of people, debates ensued whether traditional worship should take place.
For many, this was an issue of public safety. That, while Sunday has always been symbolic of Black faith, traditional worship now had major health implications. After a Covid-19 outbreak within a congregation and the news that many can be asymptomatic and unknowingly spread Coronavirus, many pastors transitioned away from traditional worship. With the third Sunday being a primarily senior-led worship experience, Pastor E. Dewey Smith Jr. (House of Hope Atlanta) couldn’t reconcile loving his congregants and ignoring breaking news. “I just couldn’t have any peace putting God’s people in that kind of jeopardy,” he says. House of Hope created a fully online worship experience and encouraged members to host small groups in their homes.
