Intinction is of Satan - it makes Baby Jesus and His Blessed Mother cry. It is one of the casualties of Covid-19 that is not to be mourned...
ION, FatherInCharge is recommencing Daily Mass from 5th October (we already have services on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday).
Our Place is large, with several chapels as well as the nave and chancel, so he has worked out a Cunning Plan to make sure that each space is used, with ample time between services to allow Ye Plague to be gone.
Thus:
Sunday Mass - at the nave altar
Monday - pop-up chapel at West End (see below)
Tuesday - Lady Chapel
Wednesday - Blessed Sacrament Chapel
Thursday - All Souls' (Requiem) Chapel
Friday - pop-up chapel again
Saturday - Lady Chapel again
The pop-up chapel will be set up in an otherwise little-used space at the west end of the church, and will feature a folding table (with the prescribed White Linen Cloth) and a few stacking chairs, which are kept in this area anyway. There are various candlesticks, crucifixes etc. hanging about in the vestry to complete the tout ensemble...
Weekday congregations are very small (anything from 2-6), but FInC is anxious to (a) offer Mass every day, and (b) to give everyone the chance to come in, pray, light a candle etc. etc., even if they can't attend on Sundays.
I could post in it, for a sufficiently flexible definition of "today". Though actually I've been singing at church since early April when the producers of the provincial online worship figured out how to include hymns.
We’ve sung hymns all along, as we’ve streamed services from the church (always with 10 or fewer people present and appropriately distanced), with organist and one or maybe two people present to sing the hymns, and with the words to hymns printed in the bulletin emailed to everyone on our email list and available on the YouTube page for the service. People are encouraged to sing along at home.
I'm beginning to think (with my Anarchist hat on) that we should simply have hymns and singing in the usual places, but with peeps still wearing their masks.
After all, breaking the law in a specific and limited way is encouraged by the example of the English *government*. What could possibly go wrong?
(Apart from adding to the 3000+ new Covid-19 infections per day, that is...)
How many people in an average year die because of the spread of influenza and other respiratory illnesses? Of course we'll never know. Not only do elderly and other vulnerable people likely catch the flu themselves by attending church, but other people catch it at church and then go and spread it to vulnerable people when they visit them.
Should churches think about stopping all congregational singing, mandating mask wearing, or even spreading out congregational seating during flu season as an annual thing?
Firstly Covid-19 seems more likely to kill - especially older people.
Secondly many have some level of flu resistance already (cf what happened with swine flu)
Thirdly we have a reasonably effective targetted flu vaccine programme.
Fourthly, yes, if you think you have flu, or even a cold you should think very carefully about going to places where you might pass it on to vulnerable people
Firstly Covid-19 seems more likely to kill - especially older people.
Secondly many have some level of flu resistance already (cf what happened with swine flu)
Thirdly we have a reasonably effective targetted flu vaccine programme.
Fourthly, yes, if you think you have flu, or even a cold you should think very carefully about going to places where you might pass it on to vulnerable people
And fifthly, it seems that COVID-19 is much contagious, at least among some groups, and is more prone to superspreader events than the flu we’re used to.
Firstly Covid-19 seems more likely to kill - especially older people.
Secondly many have some level of flu resistance already (cf what happened with swine flu)
Thirdly we have a reasonably effective targetted flu vaccine programme.
Fourthly, yes, if you think you have flu, or even a cold you should think very carefully about going to places where you might pass it on to vulnerable people
And fifthly, it seems that COVID-19 is much contagious, at least among some groups, and is more prone to superspreader events than the flu we’re used to.
So if, depending on what kind of vaccine against covid we wind up with, covid becomes something like the flu, with waves of it every year and a vaccine that doesn't fully protect you or prevent you from giving it to others, should the way churches conduct worship change permanently, at least during the times of the year when there is the most transmission?
I know this sounds a terrible thing to say: but we need to remember that we are living in a fortunate and privileged position compared to our forebears of less than a century ago, when diseases such as cholera, smallpox, TB and polio circulated freely among the population and - sadly - caused death in a way which we would find unconscionable. I believe that we may simply have to accept a greater risk that we have been used to in recent decades; however we do know much more about germs and viruses, antibodies and vaccines, or epidemiology than our ancestors did and sensible use of this knowledge should reduce that risk to a more acceptable level. What's clear is that we cannot live in the longer term with either the measure of restrictions nor the sense of panic that currently prevail.
As far as church practice is concerned, we don't really have much option other than to carry on as we are for the present - although any further lockdowns, whether local or national may have to be taken into account.
Certainly, as and when flu and colds become more prevalent, great caution will need to be exercised. If that results in people staying at home - but staying healthy - and hardly anyone in church, so be it. The church, as the Body of Christ, will not cease to exist!
Am I right in thinking that one of the main practical differences between flu and COVID-19 is that with the latter, people are infectious whilst asymptomatic and may therefore attend church, whereas with the flu you are too poorly within a very short time to go anywhere?
If attendance and behaviour at worship is going to continue indefinitely in such a restricted way, I cannot see how it can be anything other than just a brief moment of personal balm and nourishment, but without any opportunity for fellowship, socialising or outreach of any sort.
@Puzzler - not sure about your first point, but the problem of being asymptomatic, yet still carrying Covid-19 around, is certainly something to be aware of.
As far as fellowship, socialising, and outreach are concerned, the first two are carrying on, albeit in a different form - perhaps using mostly online/telephone/text/email. I don't personally miss the post-Mass coffee-time, being a not particularly socially-inclined animal, but I know a few that at Our Place do miss it. People are tending to gather (carefully) in or just outside the church after Mass, and are catching up with each other socially then...
Outreach? Well, it depends on what you mean by outreach. Just having the church open, and services being held, could in itself be seen as an act of witness, but for those churches with a more openly evangelistic ethos, it must be difficult. Even such usual things as the Christmas Carol Service, Crib Service, and Christingle Service, may have to be dropped (or modified out of all recognition!) this year.
Firstly Covid-19 seems more likely to kill - especially older people.
Secondly many have some level of flu resistance already (cf what happened with swine flu)
Thirdly we have a reasonably effective targetted flu vaccine programme.
Fourthly, yes, if you think you have flu, or even a cold you should think very carefully about going to places where you might pass it on to vulnerable people
And fifthly, it seems that COVID-19 is much contagious, at least among some groups, and is more prone to superspreader events than the flu we’re used to.
So if, depending on what kind of vaccine against covid we wind up with, covid becomes something like the flu, with waves of it every year and a vaccine that doesn't fully protect you or prevent you from giving it to others, should the way churches conduct worship change permanently, at least during the times of the year when there is the most transmission?
I can think of worse reasons for permanently changing the way churches conduct worship. We're always banging on about how we have to adapt and change and 'preach afresh to a new generation' - but generally go back to the same old stuff done in the same old way.
I personally don't want my decision to re-open our church for services to lead to people dying. That may be cowardly or faithless of me. But now that we have begun again, we'll jolly well follow the guidelines, so if and when there are infections, I can look my congregants and their families in the face knowing I wasn't careless of their lives. So, for now, we'll put the masks on, squirt the sanitiser, forgo the wine and hum inaudibly behind our masks, and wait for the other show to drop.
Firstly Covid-19 seems more likely to kill - especially older people.
Secondly many have some level of flu resistance already (cf what happened with swine flu)
Thirdly we have a reasonably effective targetted flu vaccine programme.
Fourthly, yes, if you think you have flu, or even a cold you should think very carefully about going to places where you might pass it on to vulnerable people
And fifthly, it seems that COVID-19 is much contagious, at least among some groups, and is more prone to superspreader events than the flu we’re used to.
So if, depending on what kind of vaccine against covid we wind up with, covid becomes something like the flu, with waves of it every year and a vaccine that doesn't fully protect you or prevent you from giving it to others, should the way churches conduct worship change permanently, at least during the times of the year when there is the most transmission?
I can think of worse reasons for permanently changing the way churches conduct worship. We're always banging on about how we have to adapt and change and 'preach afresh to a new generation' - but generally go back to the same old stuff done in the same old way.
I personally don't want my decision to re-open our church for services to lead to people dying. That may be cowardly or faithless of me. But now that we have begun again, we'll jolly well follow the guidelines, so if and when there are infections, I can look my congregants and their families in the face knowing I wasn't careless of their lives. So, for now, we'll put the masks on, squirt the sanitiser, forgo the wine and hum inaudibly behind our masks, and wait for the other show to drop.
Yes, that's the best we can do (or hope for) at the moment, and FatherInCharge is very careful indeed to follow the guidelines, for the same reasons as @Anselmina.
Some of the simplifications we've had perforce to introduce are not IMHO particularly onerous - indeed, my minimalist mind welcomes them! - but I do seriously miss the congregational singing.
@Bishops Finger - yes, the governor here got his wrists slapped very early on for trying to place extra restrictions on churches mainly due to the strong free exercise of religion provisions in Commonwealth Law. We are required to remain below 50% of capacity, and maintain social distancing, but other than that it is an advisory.
I am enjoying the variety of novel services at the moment. Take for example Magdalen College, Oxford. They have reduced to thrice-weekly ticketed services in chapel, but on other days they have congregationless online services - these are just 10 minutes long and consist of a lesson, an anthem or psalm, prayers and perhaps another anthem, and I think this works quite well e.g.
A ten minute choral service probably would be considered too short to bother with if done for an offline congregation, as people would spend more time going in and out of the chapel than actually being there. However for the purpose of serving those who can't attend in person and with the ability to record them at a convenient time for the choir it seems like an elegant solution.
Sunday will be our first remote-led, live-streamed service. Our usual pulpit supply agents are understandably wary of travelling just now so we've bitten the bullet and acquired a projector, borrowed a screen and we're going to use Facebook rooms to have two-way comms between church and leader and then stream it to our Facebook page.
Played at a live-streamed requiem yesterday. The family hired a professional camera/sound man so the quality was excellent, far better than the "stick the camera there and see how it goes" efforts I have seen on line. Proper panning and zooming to follow the action.
Yes, proper panning etc. makes all the difference, and some churches are now getting better at it!
Our Place is still managing with the 'phone on top of a pile of books on a pew' approach, but we seem to have found the optimum camera position, albeit a static one. Panning and zooming would be good, though.
It looks as if live-streaming is going to be part of The New Normal for a long time to come, as infections increase, and already depleted in-church congregations decrease...
I think I have said many times that St Augustine's church,Coatbridge,near Glasgow has an excellent Mass every day at 10 a.m. There are several angles shown ,so you are not always looking at the same thing. In time one gets used to spotting where the small cameras are, one of them being right in the middle of the altar table.
The Mass usually begins with recorded music of varying styles on different days, sometimes traditional hymns, sometimes more classical and sometimes organ music which may or may not be recorded.
In addition the priest is a superb communicator with a welcoming smile.
Do they know how many people tune in to their daily Mass? We put our Sunday service on Facebook, and, although there might not be more than a handful of views whilst the Mass is in progress, the number of views by the end of the week is usually far more than double the actual *in-church* attendance.
I'm not sure how many tune in but there are probably quite a few. There are usually about 30+ physically present in the church at the weekday Masses. Historical circumstances have dictated that Coatbridge is a town which is full of Catholics. There is a saying in the area 'as lonely as a Protestant in Coatbridge' Next door to Coatbridge is the much more 'Protestant' Airdrie ,though the oldest RC church in Airdrie was founded in 1836,12 years before the first post Reformation RC church in Coatbridge.
ps I have watched the Sunday Mass in BF's church. Good work !
Yes, proper panning etc. makes all the difference, and some churches are now getting better at it!
Our Place is still managing with the 'phone on top of a pile of books on a pew' approach, but we seem to have found the optimum camera position, albeit a static one. Panning and zooming would be good, though.
It looks as if live-streaming is going to be part of The New Normal for a long time to come, as infections increase, and already depleted in-church congregations decrease...
I'm not sure panning and zooming etc is necessary. If I was at the service in person I wouldn't be wandering about gorping at everyone, I'd be sat in one place with one view.
And the ability to swivel your head. I worked out that with judicious positioning we could probably manage with two stationary cameras but we would need two. There are basically two different places (lecturn and altar) in the church where the liturgy is led even on a simple weekday mass. An ability to switch from one to the other is almost essential. With the full Sunday one there are I think four (lectern, crossing, pulpit and altar) and with Easter Vigil that becomes at least six, you add entrance for Easter Fire and the baptistry.
O I agree that panning and zooming may not be absolutely necessary, particularly if the service is not very long, but a different scene or angle of view makes a change!
We do move the phone-camera at Communion time, to avoid anyone being filmed during that time, and the operator generally moves to one of our side chapels, focusing on some aspect of the architecture, or an image, or a flower arrangement, or the like.
Yes, proper panning etc. makes all the difference, and some churches are now getting better at it!
Our Place is still managing with the 'phone on top of a pile of books on a pew' approach, but we seem to have found the optimum camera position, albeit a static one. Panning and zooming would be good, though.
It looks as if live-streaming is going to be part of The New Normal for a long time to come, as infections increase, and already depleted in-church congregations decrease...
I'm not sure panning and zooming etc is necessary. If I was at the service in person I wouldn't be wandering about gorping at everyone, I'd be sat in one place with one view.
But the focus of your gaze would change from chair to lectern to altar etc. The brain has the ability to filter out the stuff we aren't concentrating on even if its clearly in the field of vision. Thats what panning and zooming try to emulate.
The church I recommended to see what they do has been visited twice by the BBC for televised services. The first was an Easter Sunday Mass on BBC and I think that the BBC gave them a number of good ideas. I don't think they left the equipment they used but they certainly came back a week or so after the broadcast and explained to the parish what to do.
Our Place is starting Sunday morning meetings in November - you have to book a place, sit socially distanced wearing masks, no singing (I suspect there will be someone at the front singing, but strictly no joining in) and no chatting or coffee afterwards. I'll be really interested to hear what the uptake of places is. Mr Nen has been asked to be on the rota for the projection and has agreed but I gather they are struggling for volunteers and are not sure it's sustainable.
We're fortunate inasmuch that we haven't had to start a booking system - lots of space, but not that many people, even before lockdown!
Numbers are beginning to increase a bit, though - a young family (Mum + Dad + two toddlers) has returned, and a new family (Mum + two toddlers) came for the first time last Sunday...
Maybe going to tier 3 has done us a favour we were low last week, which means we do not need to start the discussion on whether to get a booking system or find a way to have another mass. However, it may just be half term. Next weekend will be interesting with All Saints on a Sunday.
I thought there was an upper limit of 50 no matter the size of the building. Or is that just Scotland?
In England my understanding is that each congregation does the measuring and works out the number that can socially distance.
Our 70 felt like a decent number in the building, though it is only half of our usual 11.00 turn out.
Yes, I think @Alan29 is right, but it's certainly hard to keep up with what's allowed where...
I hear of one Scottish Episcopal urban church which can only safely accommodate 10 at the Sunday Eucharist, as it is such a small building.
The spacing out necessitated by social distancing (or physical distancing, if you prefer) does somehow 'fill' the church. Our Place, which can (at a currently-illegal squeeze) accommodate 120 feels comfortably full with only 30 present...odd, but there it is...
Here in Winchester a lot of churches are small Saxon buildings, and my nearest has only just started to have in-person services again - the cathedral and the large town centre Catholic church have been operating mostly as normal for a while, with sung services back at the cathedral.
The majority of evangelical churches are still meeting wholly or mostly online. This is interesting to me - clearly they don't feel that they can meet without congregational singing. Don't get me wrong, I really miss congregational singing too but I don't think in-person church is pointless without it.
The majority of evangelical churches are still meeting wholly or mostly online. This is interesting to me - clearly they don't feel that they can meet without congregational singing. Don't get me wrong, I really miss congregational singing too but I don't think in-person church is pointless without it.
Our evangelical church is still meeting online and I am assuming the main reason is we have over 100 under 18 year olds, the younger of which are using to running round church at full speed and will not know how to maintain social distancing
The majority of evangelical churches are still meeting wholly or mostly online. This is interesting to me - clearly they don't feel that they can meet without congregational singing. Don't get me wrong, I really miss congregational singing too but I don't think in-person church is pointless without it.
We are by no means evo, but our place has just had our first run-through of a Covid-era service. We're being slow about starting in-person up not because we miss singing (we do, of course, like you) but because we're certain most of our parishioners are going to want to hug each other.
@Heavenlyannie mentions the kids - we're not starting up any of our in-person Christian education this year, and our preschool isn't running either. The older kids are meeting electronically, but the younger ones spend long enough on zoom for school as it is.
The huge number of children (they make up a quarter of the congregation) also has other complications, such as impractical queues for the loos if our upstairs multi-cubicle ladies has to become single use only.
That's before we even get into people breaking into song and hugging each other.
Ah - we little churches are, in some ways, fortunate! Sort of...
Even with our much smaller number of children, we haven't yet found it feasible to restart our monthly Family Church/Club, but there are a few youngsters (including a teenager or two!) at the Parish Mass most Sundays.
So far, our people have been very good about mask-wearing and refraining from hugging/shaking hands.
Our kids services, including sacramental preparation arent running either. That means their parents stay away.
We are starting to think about the usual Chrismas Eve family Mass/event/chaos. Its usually packed, bonkers, joyous and reeks of chocolate. I love it!
Our building is not large and was quite full before all this started. To move back in person would mean running at least five services, with an impossible amount of cleaning, plus impossible strain on clergy. The main service therefore continues on Zoom, although we do now hold one Sunday and one midweek in person service (priority given to those who cannot use Zoom).
The majority of evangelical churches are still meeting wholly or mostly online. This is interesting to me - clearly they don't feel that they can meet without congregational singing. Don't get me wrong, I really miss congregational singing too but I don't think in-person church is pointless without it.
most of our parishioners are going to want to hug each other.
I worship with Presbyterians. There's... no risk of that whatsoever.
Comments
ION, FatherInCharge is recommencing Daily Mass from 5th October (we already have services on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday).
Our Place is large, with several chapels as well as the nave and chancel, so he has worked out a Cunning Plan to make sure that each space is used, with ample time between services to allow Ye Plague to be gone.
Thus:
Sunday Mass - at the nave altar
Monday - pop-up chapel at West End (see below)
Tuesday - Lady Chapel
Wednesday - Blessed Sacrament Chapel
Thursday - All Souls' (Requiem) Chapel
Friday - pop-up chapel again
Saturday - Lady Chapel again
The pop-up chapel will be set up in an otherwise little-used space at the west end of the church, and will feature a folding table (with the prescribed White Linen Cloth) and a few stacking chairs, which are kept in this area anyway. There are various candlesticks, crucifixes etc. hanging about in the vestry to complete the tout ensemble...
Weekday congregations are very small (anything from 2-6), but FInC is anxious to (a) offer Mass every day, and (b) to give everyone the chance to come in, pray, light a candle etc. etc., even if they can't attend on Sundays.
After all, breaking the law in a specific and limited way is encouraged by the example of the English *government*. What could possibly go wrong?
(Apart from adding to the 3000+ new Covid-19 infections per day, that is...)
Should churches think about stopping all congregational singing, mandating mask wearing, or even spreading out congregational seating during flu season as an annual thing?
ISTM that the present restrictions are going to be in place until next year. My suggestion about limited law-breaking was not, of course, serious...
Secondly many have some level of flu resistance already (cf what happened with swine flu)
Thirdly we have a reasonably effective targetted flu vaccine programme.
Fourthly, yes, if you think you have flu, or even a cold you should think very carefully about going to places where you might pass it on to vulnerable people
So if, depending on what kind of vaccine against covid we wind up with, covid becomes something like the flu, with waves of it every year and a vaccine that doesn't fully protect you or prevent you from giving it to others, should the way churches conduct worship change permanently, at least during the times of the year when there is the most transmission?
As far as church practice is concerned, we don't really have much option other than to carry on as we are for the present - although any further lockdowns, whether local or national may have to be taken into account.
Certainly, as and when flu and colds become more prevalent, great caution will need to be exercised. If that results in people staying at home - but staying healthy - and hardly anyone in church, so be it. The church, as the Body of Christ, will not cease to exist!
If attendance and behaviour at worship is going to continue indefinitely in such a restricted way, I cannot see how it can be anything other than just a brief moment of personal balm and nourishment, but without any opportunity for fellowship, socialising or outreach of any sort.
As far as fellowship, socialising, and outreach are concerned, the first two are carrying on, albeit in a different form - perhaps using mostly online/telephone/text/email. I don't personally miss the post-Mass coffee-time, being a not particularly socially-inclined animal, but I know a few that at Our Place do miss it. People are tending to gather (carefully) in or just outside the church after Mass, and are catching up with each other socially then...
Outreach? Well, it depends on what you mean by outreach. Just having the church open, and services being held, could in itself be seen as an act of witness, but for those churches with a more openly evangelistic ethos, it must be difficult. Even such usual things as the Christmas Carol Service, Crib Service, and Christingle Service, may have to be dropped (or modified out of all recognition!) this year.
I can think of worse reasons for permanently changing the way churches conduct worship. We're always banging on about how we have to adapt and change and 'preach afresh to a new generation' - but generally go back to the same old stuff done in the same old way.
I personally don't want my decision to re-open our church for services to lead to people dying. That may be cowardly or faithless of me. But now that we have begun again, we'll jolly well follow the guidelines, so if and when there are infections, I can look my congregants and their families in the face knowing I wasn't careless of their lives. So, for now, we'll put the masks on, squirt the sanitiser, forgo the wine and hum inaudibly behind our masks, and wait for the other show to drop.
Yes, that's the best we can do (or hope for) at the moment, and FatherInCharge is very careful indeed to follow the guidelines, for the same reasons as @Anselmina.
Some of the simplifications we've had perforce to introduce are not IMHO particularly onerous - indeed, my minimalist mind welcomes them! - but I do seriously miss the congregational singing.
To be honest, I could have been posting on it since mid-May, but I was expecting a self-righteous pile-on if I did so I abstained.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XezASZ7wQvg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9X0qsVFYIQ
A ten minute choral service probably would be considered too short to bother with if done for an offline congregation, as people would spend more time going in and out of the chapel than actually being there. However for the purpose of serving those who can't attend in person and with the ability to record them at a convenient time for the choir it seems like an elegant solution.
Our Place is still managing with the 'phone on top of a pile of books on a pew' approach, but we seem to have found the optimum camera position, albeit a static one. Panning and zooming would be good, though.
It looks as if live-streaming is going to be part of The New Normal for a long time to come, as infections increase, and already depleted in-church congregations decrease...
The Mass usually begins with recorded music of varying styles on different days, sometimes traditional hymns, sometimes more classical and sometimes organ music which may or may not be recorded.
In addition the priest is a superb communicator with a welcoming smile.
Do they know how many people tune in to their daily Mass? We put our Sunday service on Facebook, and, although there might not be more than a handful of views whilst the Mass is in progress, the number of views by the end of the week is usually far more than double the actual *in-church* attendance.
ps I have watched the Sunday Mass in BF's church. Good work !
BTW, I hope you didn't watch the Mass at Our Place when I was preaching...I waffled even more than I usually do...
I'm not sure panning and zooming etc is necessary. If I was at the service in person I wouldn't be wandering about gorping at everyone, I'd be sat in one place with one view.
We do move the phone-camera at Communion time, to avoid anyone being filmed during that time, and the operator generally moves to one of our side chapels, focusing on some aspect of the architecture, or an image, or a flower arrangement, or the like.
But the focus of your gaze would change from chair to lectern to altar etc. The brain has the ability to filter out the stuff we aren't concentrating on even if its clearly in the field of vision. Thats what panning and zooming try to emulate.
Numbers are beginning to increase a bit, though - a young family (Mum + Dad + two toddlers) has returned, and a new family (Mum + two toddlers) came for the first time last Sunday...
In England my understanding is that each congregation does the measuring and works out the number that can socially distance.
Our 70 felt like a decent number in the building, though it is only half of our usual 11.00 turn out.
I hear of one Scottish Episcopal urban church which can only safely accommodate 10 at the Sunday Eucharist, as it is such a small building.
The spacing out necessitated by social distancing (or physical distancing, if you prefer) does somehow 'fill' the church. Our Place, which can (at a currently-illegal squeeze) accommodate 120 feels comfortably full with only 30 present...odd, but there it is...
The majority of evangelical churches are still meeting wholly or mostly online. This is interesting to me - clearly they don't feel that they can meet without congregational singing. Don't get me wrong, I really miss congregational singing too but I don't think in-person church is pointless without it.
They are also staying online with Zoom, Facebook and all the rest of the digital gang!
Our evangelical church is still meeting online and I am assuming the main reason is we have over 100 under 18 year olds, the younger of which are using to running round church at full speed and will not know how to maintain social distancing
We are by no means evo, but our place has just had our first run-through of a Covid-era service. We're being slow about starting in-person up not because we miss singing (we do, of course, like you) but because we're certain most of our parishioners are going to want to hug each other.
@Heavenlyannie mentions the kids - we're not starting up any of our in-person Christian education this year, and our preschool isn't running either. The older kids are meeting electronically, but the younger ones spend long enough on zoom for school as it is.
That's before we even get into people breaking into song and hugging each other.
Even with our much smaller number of children, we haven't yet found it feasible to restart our monthly Family Church/Club, but there are a few youngsters (including a teenager or two!) at the Parish Mass most Sundays.
So far, our people have been very good about mask-wearing and refraining from hugging/shaking hands.
We are starting to think about the usual Chrismas Eve family Mass/event/chaos. Its usually packed, bonkers, joyous and reeks of chocolate. I love it!
I worship with Presbyterians. There's... no risk of that whatsoever.