(RNS) — The Rev. Traci Blackmon was at home outside of St. Louis when a local hospital called. It had been sending people with mild coronavirus home to recover, but it didn’t have enough masks to send with them. Now the hospital had a question: Could Blackmon’s church help sew some masks? “That moment still haunts me,” said Blackmon, senior pastor of Christ the King United Church of Christ in Florissant, Missouri, and a registered nurse. She knew how crucial it was for those people to protect others from contracting the disease. She was also ready and able to help. Christ the King is part of a network called Masks for the People that is distributing surgical masks and hand sanitizer in low-income and minority neighborhoods. She told the hospital the church would be happy to help. As coronavirus cases surge again, churches across the U.S. have stepped up, providing medical supplies to help slow the spread of the virus and food to those who have lost their jobs. Still … [Read more...]

CHICAGO (RNS) — The first time the Rev. Lettie Moses Carr saw Jesus depicted as Black, she was in her 20s. It felt “weird,” Carr said. Until that moment, she’d always thought Jesus was white. At least that’s how he appeared when she was growing up. A copy of Warner E. Sallman’s “Head of Christ” painting hung in her home, depicting a gentle Jesus with blue eyes turned heavenward and dark blond hair cascading over his shoulders in waves. The painting, which has been reproduced a billion times, came to define what the central figure of Christianity looked like for generations of Christians in the United States — and beyond. For years, Sallman’s Jesus “represented the image of God,” said Carr, director of ministry and administrative support staff at First Baptist Church of Glenarden in Maryland. When she grew up and began to study the Bible on her own, she started to wonder about that painting and the message it sent. “It didn’t make sense that this picture was of … [Read more...]

(RNS) — A new study examining Americans’ response to COVID-19 shows that with the exception of white evangelicals, a majority of Americans are not comfortable returning to in-person religious services. The results of the survey suggest that despite political pressure to reopen houses of worship — from President Donald Trump as well as leading conservative Christians and religious liberty advocates — Americans aren’t quite ready to take a seat in a sanctuary. The survey from the American Enterprise Institute showed that 64% of Americans said they were “somewhat uncomfortable” or “very uncomfortable” attending in-person worship. Even among those who reported their congregations offered in-person worship in the past week, 56% of respondents said they chose not to go. “We’re seeing among lay people a significant amount of discomfort in going back to formal in-person religious practices,” said Daniel Cox, a research fellow at AEI who led the study. “People are equivocating … [Read more...]

(RNS) — An evangelical research center focused on disaster response has detailed key steps churchgoers might take as they contemplate attending reopened churches. Wheaton College’s Humanitarian Disaster Institute in Illinois released a series of documents this week to augment the guidelines of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The institute previously created a website with coronavirus-related resources with the National Association of Evangelicals. “We are standing in the gap with a series of new resources since the CDC has been suppressed by the current administration on what guidelines it can provide to U.S. faith communities,” Jamie Aten, executive director of the institute, said in a Wednesday (June 10) announcement about “Deciding When & How You Should Return to Church in Person: A Practical Guide for Church Members.” “Many churches including their pastors and church members are struggling to sort through misinformation and divisive voices … [Read more...]

(RNS) — Each Sunday, Larry Little and his wife, Mary, get ready for church. They dress casually, fill two tumblers with water, climb into their golf cart and drive two miles to The Grove, a grassy field next to their church. There they find a parking place, turn off the engine and settle in for a live service in front of a Jumbotron and a stage. The Littles, who live in a retirement community called The Villages, about an hour’s drive northwest of Orlando, Florida, are among the lucky few. Since mid-March, when state shutdowns forced churches, synagogues and mosques to close amid the coronavirus pandemic, Americans have had to mostly rely on online worship services. But Live Oaks Community Church has been able to offer continuous outdoor services — one on Saturday and two on Sunday — with dozens, sometimes hundreds, arriving via their golf carts. “The only negative is that you don’t have much interaction with the rest of the congregation,” said Larry Little, 77. “Our … [Read more...]

(RNS) — An ecumenical group of clergy, scientists and other experts has released a guide to help congregations consider best practices for reopening for worship. Among their suggestions: Refrain from congregational singing. Clap or stomp instead. Preachers, shorten your sermon. Congregants, mouth your response during Communion instead of speaking. Pass the peace to other worshippers with a gentle nod or a reverent bow, but no physical contact. The 36-page document notes that church leaders will make different decisions depending on the recommendations of denominational and health officials. “Christians will refrain from judging the witness of others as long as others are not endangering the common good,” it states. “Resuming Care-filled Worship and Sacramental Life During a Pandemic” includes links to recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Preventionand to guidelines issued by regional denominational groups as they respond to the CDC’s … [Read more...]