We've been left without the choice since the government banned all gatherings over 100. The service is going to be streamed over the internet. People have been invited to email in their prayer requests in advance. I think some smaller groups probably will meet in people's homes to watch the livestream together. Part of me thinks that might be a bit self-defeating, but I suppose there is less danger in groups of 10 or so than in the whole church in one place.
Thanks. Just given the various things Ruth had said, I wasn’t sure what in particular you had in mind.
What others have said, but also the list of groups using the building which @Ruth gave: “homeless services, children's services, 12-step groups, Scouts, ESL classes, a spiritual yoga group, a preschool.”
To have of this is alien to most, though not all UK churches. Some of it, maybe, but all is a lot!
A goodly array—but it depends partly on size and partly on location, what services a church houses.
Yes, and connected to location, the needs of the immediately surrounding community. I think it is common, though, for churches to look for ways the building can be used during the week. It is fairly common for churches around here to have preschools, or perhaps host after-school programs.
Our place (in southern Ontario) is closing for the duration because we've recently grown a lot and it gets packed out with smaller people. We're reasonably well connected by email for us dinosaurs and Twitface for the rest, but we'll probably have one or two non-greeters outside the door tomorrow anyway. Plenty of the smaller congregations are staying open, so we'll be visiting one of them.
Probably all those services, and others beside, will be provided by churches in the UK ... just very unusual for any single church to do all that, partly from capacity of any single church and also that very few locations have need for all those services (remembering that other organisations may already meet the local needs).
Our little congregation has Guides/Brownies and a special needs children's reading group using the building for free as part of our ministry, and we provide at cost use of the hall for young people's dance and karate classes (different groups ... though might be interesting to combine them) a music group and a Tai Chi class. Other congregations in the pastorate also support Scouts/Cubs, AA groups, seniors lunches, and some other (mostly youth centred) groups. Our locations aren't somewhere where support for the homeless is needed, other local churches host food banks (we merely collect donations for food banks), provide space for debt counselling and support for those needing help budgeting household finances and other services.
At present those groups are continuing to meet. They'll make their own decision whether to suspend their activities. The leader of one of the dance groups has asked about using the hall for children's groups if the schools are closed ... but, that would probably negate the reason for closing schools.
. I think some smaller groups probably will meet in people's homes to watch the livestream together. Part of me thinks that might be a bit self-defeating, but I suppose there is less danger in groups of 10 or so than in the whole church in one place.
Since we have large premises for our current numbers, which are less than 100, for this Sunday we're following the Catholic line and getting people to sit one chair apart and on alternate rows (plus no children). Suddenly having a load of grey chairs and a load of red chairs seems like a good idea: the new game is to find a grey chair to sit on.
I'm not happy with this solution but I suspect it will last only one Sunday before we suspend services. I'm even less in favour of small groups of the size you mention because people will be even closer together. For our midweek meeting, I'm thinking Skype/FB chat etc between groups of a maximum of two or three, a nice Biblical threshold.
Is anyone suggesting an agape-eucharist at home using one of the Mass video streams, for those who would want to "do this" virtually? I think we may have discussed to death the theological and doctrinal ramifications during the Church of Fools project. The physicality of such participation could well be helpful for some people, helping to integrate them as participants rather than voyeurs.
An addition to what I said above: California has banned gatherings of over 250 people, but LA County is recommending that no gathering exceed 50 -- which is why the homeless services will be limited to having 50 people together at once.
A goodly array—but it depends partly on size and partly on location, what services a church houses.
Exactly. The church I work for is downtown in a city of close to half a million, in the second-largest metropolitan area in the country. It's the oldest church in town, and it has both lots of space and a fair amount of money in investments, as it used to be the church for the city's movers and shakers. Although there are members who are barely making it, there are more who are (or were) successful professionals. Moreover, church leadership has recognized that the only way they will keep the institution alive in the next few decades will be through becoming a community hub. If we're not important to the community, we won't continue to exist. The homeless services and the children/youth services programs started out as church ministries, but were spun off as separate non-profit organizations in order to apply for grants religious institutions can't get, so now we regard them as partner organizations that we house; they get space to operate from us but they raise their own money. The preschool is a tenant. All the other groups use church facilities for a small fee or at no charge; we are subsidizing them through offering space to operate, but they have their own leadership. (And as a side note, all this is why my job as church office manager is full-time with benefits.)
So it's a very big deal that we're shutting down so many activities and not holding a regular church service. But there's just no way we can have 200 people in church, with a median age in the late 50s, plus have a homeless services organization also operating on Sunday serving 125-150 people with upwards of 50 staff and volunteers.
I would have thought receiving on the hand was more likely to be an infection source than receiving on the tongue.
The issue with receiving on the tongue is that it can contaminate the priest / minister's hand. If you've washed your hands just before church, receiving in the hand should be OK.
BTW - if our government decides to forcibly quarantine everyone over 70, Our Place's ministry team will be reduced to two - myself, and Madam Sacristan. FatherInCharge, FatherHelpingUsOut, and my fellow Reader, are all over 71...
The majority of the congregation, OTOH, are quite a bit younger...and, if we're allowed to continue holding services, may well have to get used to Sunday Morning Prayer or Liturgy of the Word - with hymns, and incense at the Gospel, of course...
I see a Church of Scotland parish about 500 yards down the road from us has decided to suspend services because of the older demographic of its congregation bringing it into the vulnerable category. Pretty much describes us, too, for that matter. The other CoS's however seem to be still going. And for now so are we - but I do wonder if and when the vestry might end up urging something more drastic. One of the more tech-savvy charges in the Scottish Episcopal Church is arranging a videoed service for stay-at-homes across the Province, to watch from Sunday week onwards.
We could perhaps do something very limited on facebook live, if we had to. But it might not be terribly worthwhile, technology not being our 'thing'!
We have so many vulnerable elderly (a few are already staying away), including those with compromised immunity because of either medication or medical conditions (including myself). A lot of these folk are being directed to reduce contact with others, and of course they should follow medical advice. We'll be cancelling our Mothering Sunday tea for tomorrow week. And one or two of our other little church groups. But so far as I know the hall lets are continuing with their activities. After tomorrow I can't see refreshments continuing, even if church does. I fully expect the choir I sing with will have to postpone or cancel its concert at the end of March, even though not a word has been spoken about the possibility at the most recent rehearsal.
I've been trying to get round my home communion folk - phoning prior to visit, as per SEC instructions. But I'm sitting there thinking 'what if I'm bringing something in with me and it just hasn't manifested?' I want to get round so many of our likely to be isolated folk, but the whole point of them isolating is that 'outsiders' don't get access to them! Clergy are supposed to phone would-be vulnerable people before visiting to assess risk or confirm it's safe to do so. How practical or realistic is that? Access to nursing homes for visitors has already been stopped. Yet I had a hospital appointment yesterday which was all very normal, except for there being spaces in the car-park, a very unusual occurrence! And our GP clinics have stopped people coming in for ordinary appointments; and we have to phone before going if we're picking up scripts or are coming in for any other reason.
There's a very peculiar feeling of business as usual vs. let's start reducing contact now and play safe. And no-one seems to know which way to go. I think it's confusing, too, because different parts of the UK seems to be doing different things. And the screeds of 'guidelines' from the Bishops on de-contaminating chasubles, spacing communicants and limiting who touches the bloody tea-cups or washes the cutlery just seems to get longer and more impractical as each Sunday passes. Still people are in pretty good heart and apart from the panic buyers, keeping a level head.
Yes. I keep wanting to stand up, rush around, and do something--though what to do is extremely vague and unclear!
It looks like a significant amount of the new infections are coming by way of people are sick but don't know it yet. Which means that theoretically, anybody could be carrying the virus around to anybody. This sucks. I can decide what risks to run for myself, but being responsible for someone else's infection is a whole nother deal.
This is complicated by the fact that I've had a mild headache for a couple of days, and I am highly allergic to tree pollen--which is busting out everywhere in my neighborhood. At any other time I'd assume the headache and feeling of being a little off is nothing but seasonal allergies. But now I can't make that assumption. And I can't get tested, because a) tests are being limited to folks with a fever and at least one other symptom, and b) even if they'd give to me, it's entirely possible to test negative in the earliest days of the infection.
So I'm going to go read the lessons tomorrow for the American congregation, but at a safe distance, and touch nobody. And for the Vietnamese, .... I just don't know. Our room is tiny, and you could only get three people in it if you kept to the six foot radius. That isn't going to happen. And we have a huggy person who seems to be verging on dementia, and I don't think we're going to be able to fend her off.
Mr. Lamb refuses to translate and distribute the "how to care for a coronavirus patient" instructions I typed up, on the grounds that people will sue if we hand them out and they lose a family member. And I'm bound to say he's quite right about the foolishness and sue-happy-ness of the population (I think the church would behave better, but the whole Vietnamese population here calls on us when in need). He will only give instructions orally for just this reason. I foresee a really sucky time with the phone ringing a lot as cases multiply.
AFAIK, it's to be business as usual at Our Place, though I take @Anselmina's point about the Reams of Bumf coming from the Bishops...some of which is, of course, sensible advice.
I'm vacillating between concern about how elderly and vulnerable many members of our congregation are (and how stoic many of them are and unlikely to decide to stay away of their own accord) and being reassured at how comparatively isolated we are and the limited range of potential vectors of transmission into the community. Of course the ideal would be that we know of a case and can close down soon enough to prevent further spread but that seems unlikely. Many of our most vulnerable members don't have internet access even if we could direct them to streamed services. We're also looking at a potential problem of many of our pulpit supply agents being elderly and travelling a long way to be with us. We may have to make the decision to ask them to stay home (even assuming that decision doesn't get made for us) to avoid them becoming spreaders in either direction or themselves being exposed. There is also the issue of people being in and out of the Manse in quick succession. As I'm writing this I'm wondering whether it would be safe to encourage each person who doesn't have internet to go to the house of a (different!) person who does and all of us participate in the same streamed service, either from somewhere on the island or from the mainland. That way we should be able to get the whole congregation together but minimise exposure.
If the government orders over 70s to remain in their own homes, then our church will simply cease to function. There's no point in me turning up to church on my own on Sundays, possibly joined by the minister on occasion, being the only under 70 member. We can't do any form of online worship.
If that was to persist for four months or more, it's questionable whether we'd be in a position to get going again.
- start by choosing the platform which most people use, and throw your prejudices aside. I hate FB but have become resigned to it
- most of those taking part were people on their own, so I think it proved its worth immediately
- comments allow people to respond, write prayers, suggest songs, etc.
- we celebrated communion, inviting each participant to grab suitable elements around them
This all seemed to work OK within the limitations of the medium. Next step will be to make things more particpatory by hopping from one live broadcaster to another, e.g. one person for worship, one for preaching. Next step after that will be to do at least the preach via a private YouTube live link which has the advantage that people don't need to sign up to FB provided they have the link, and you can comment on YouTube too.
If the government orders over 70s to remain in their own homes, then our church will simply cease to function. There's no point in me turning up to church on my own on Sundays, possibly joined by the minister on occasion, being the only under 70 member. We can't do any form of online worship.
If that was to persist for four months or more, it's questionable whether we'd be in a position to get going again.
This. So much this. I really fear that this could be the death of many small struggling, but still currently vibrant churches. Including at least two of mine. Once the habit of churchgoing is lost, it is incredibly hard to get it re-started.
Meanwhile our priest is putting on an extra Mass next weekend, so there will be fewer at any one Mass, that is assuming that there will be any services allowed.
Our Holy Week planning meeting has been cancelled as the PP is convinced churches will be closed within a couple of weeks.
With all due respect, that seems a bit pessimistic. Maybe churches will be closed, but maybe not, and therefore a Plan B (perhaps with slimmed-down services?) might be required.
That's the basis we're working on at the moment, but things could well change in the next few days, I know. At least we don't have to worry about the sheer numbers of people in church!
Fewer than usual at our morning (non communion) service today. Interesting that it seemed to be families staying away rather than elderly. Precautions such as welcomers not shaking hands, congregation asked to pick up a weekly news sheet rather than being handed it, and no passing round of collection bags (I am on cash counting rota tomorrow so hoping for a quicker task!). Noticeable that fewer of the congregation stayed after the service for coffee. Also very noticeable that one parishioner who uses a portable oxygen cylinder still attended. Will wait to see how any government and / or Diocesan advice effects next week's Mothering Sunday attendance. (UK Anglican church)
I was a little concerned today about one of our absent families, but it has happened before that, if any of the children gets (say) a cold, they all stay away.
AIUI, children are less susceptible to COVID-19, so there could well be many other reasons why they're missing - FatherInCharge will be checking up (probably by phone, initially!) this week.
We usually get a fair number of under-16s (Cubs/Beavers) on Mothering Sunday, but we, too, shall have to wait and see.
Our Lent 'Family Church' yesterday afternoon had about 18 Yoof 'doing' Stations of the Cross (followed by cooking/craft activities - all scrupulously supervised). Next one is scheduled for the Saturday after Easter, but who knows if we'll still be open then?
The local Catholic bishop has not suspended masses, but has waived the Sunday obligation until the crisis has passed.
Yesterday, the bishops in North Carolina’s two Catholic dioceses cancelled all masses.
Meanwhile, streaming from our place, which we were trying to do for the first time, failed to work properly. Wife and I went over to her mother’s to watch with her, but alas.
If the government orders over 70s to remain in their own homes, then our church will simply cease to function. There's no point in me turning up to church on my own on Sundays, possibly joined by the minister on occasion, being the only under 70 member. We can't do any form of online worship.
If that was to persist for four months or more, it's questionable whether we'd be in a position to get going again.
This. So much this. I really fear that this could be the death of many small struggling, but still currently vibrant churches. Including at least two of mine. Once the habit of churchgoing is lost, it is incredibly hard to get it re-started.
Yes, but I wonder if this situation might play out a little differently. Here, at least, it’s not just churches that are closed; it’s lots of things, so it’s not like there are many alternatives to get used to. My hunch is that when this is over, people will crave a return to normalcy, including going to church if that’s part of normalcy for them.
Listening to my church streaming Liturgy. Terrible audio; they clearly set up a microphone in the back of the nave. Which is silly because the priest has a body mic. They'd have been better to just stick a mic in front of one of the loudspeakers in the parish hall. But it's only the first week. These things can be worked out.
What platform were you using? One of the good things about Facebook Live is that while relatively low-tech, it seems to work off the shelf if you have enough bandwidth.
Our livestream worked well, after one hiccup at the beginning. Over 120 people watched on YouTube while it was live. The ability to chat on YouTube was nice. I think it was on Facebook simultaneously, and if so I'm going to suggest that they stick just with YouTube, partly because everyone can get on without having an account, and partly for the togetherness of it, having everyone all in one space.
We don't have the AV facilities to do live feeds, but apart from a few older members of the congregation, and one family, most people were there. We're still definitely planning on being open as much as possible, even to the extent of having just planned for a children's Good Friday service.
We've now adopted the official guidance for the CofE that's been issued this week, so hand sanitizer, no contact at the peace, and communion in one kind. As we use a new service booklet each week - combined readings, propers and notices, with an accompanying sheet for the hymns, we don't have to worry about books too much, although the sidesmen weren't handing them out, and instead we took them from a line on the side.
Most people stayed for coffee as usual, we have china mugs and it's served by two people, who today were using sanitizer and gloves, so we were only handling our own cups, and the biscuits were individually wrapped Twix bars to minimize potential cross-contamination.
Our Holy Week planning meeting has been cancelled as the PP is convinced churches will be closed within a couple of weeks.
With all due respect, that seems a bit pessimistic. Maybe churches will be closed, but maybe not, and therefore a Plan B (perhaps with slimmed-down services?) might be required.
That's the basis we're working on at the moment, but things could well change in the next few days, I know. At least we don't have to worry about the sheer numbers of people in church!
He is circulating last years service booklets to liturgy leaders for comment if we do go ahead this year. In fairness it changes very little from year to year!
Alas St Quacks currently has no teens. Phone would work if we had a tripod to put it on in the Chancel: the people who normally take photos in the services would either be busy doing something or be advised to stay home, and the layout means that the Pew - Sanctuary distance would require too much use of zoom.
And, enough data allowance. And, the members of the congregation not present would need the means to watch it (in our case, one of our more mature members has an email address ... though everyone has a land line phone number so we can call on them to chat if they need to isolate themselves).
Comments
What others have said, but also the list of groups using the building which @Ruth gave: “homeless services, children's services, 12-step groups, Scouts, ESL classes, a spiritual yoga group, a preschool.”
To have of this is alien to most, though not all UK churches. Some of it, maybe, but all is a lot!
Our little congregation has Guides/Brownies and a special needs children's reading group using the building for free as part of our ministry, and we provide at cost use of the hall for young people's dance and karate classes (different groups ... though might be interesting to combine them) a music group and a Tai Chi class. Other congregations in the pastorate also support Scouts/Cubs, AA groups, seniors lunches, and some other (mostly youth centred) groups. Our locations aren't somewhere where support for the homeless is needed, other local churches host food banks (we merely collect donations for food banks), provide space for debt counselling and support for those needing help budgeting household finances and other services.
At present those groups are continuing to meet. They'll make their own decision whether to suspend their activities. The leader of one of the dance groups has asked about using the hall for children's groups if the schools are closed ... but, that would probably negate the reason for closing schools.
I'm not happy with this solution but I suspect it will last only one Sunday before we suspend services. I'm even less in favour of small groups of the size you mention because people will be even closer together. For our midweek meeting, I'm thinking Skype/FB chat etc between groups of a maximum of two or three, a nice Biblical threshold.
Exactly. The church I work for is downtown in a city of close to half a million, in the second-largest metropolitan area in the country. It's the oldest church in town, and it has both lots of space and a fair amount of money in investments, as it used to be the church for the city's movers and shakers. Although there are members who are barely making it, there are more who are (or were) successful professionals. Moreover, church leadership has recognized that the only way they will keep the institution alive in the next few decades will be through becoming a community hub. If we're not important to the community, we won't continue to exist. The homeless services and the children/youth services programs started out as church ministries, but were spun off as separate non-profit organizations in order to apply for grants religious institutions can't get, so now we regard them as partner organizations that we house; they get space to operate from us but they raise their own money. The preschool is a tenant. All the other groups use church facilities for a small fee or at no charge; we are subsidizing them through offering space to operate, but they have their own leadership. (And as a side note, all this is why my job as church office manager is full-time with benefits.)
So it's a very big deal that we're shutting down so many activities and not holding a regular church service. But there's just no way we can have 200 people in church, with a median age in the late 50s, plus have a homeless services organization also operating on Sunday serving 125-150 people with upwards of 50 staff and volunteers.
That didn't even last that long. France now on total lockdown. Prayers appreciated.
The issue with receiving on the tongue is that it can contaminate the priest / minister's hand. If you've washed your hands just before church, receiving in the hand should be OK.
<votive> for France.
Does the lockdown apply to ALL gatherings e.g. for worship, or could you continue to have smaller services, IYSWIM?
The majority of the congregation, OTOH, are quite a bit younger...and, if we're allowed to continue holding services, may well have to get used to Sunday Morning Prayer or Liturgy of the Word - with hymns, and incense at the Gospel, of course...
We could perhaps do something very limited on facebook live, if we had to. But it might not be terribly worthwhile, technology not being our 'thing'!
We have so many vulnerable elderly (a few are already staying away), including those with compromised immunity because of either medication or medical conditions (including myself). A lot of these folk are being directed to reduce contact with others, and of course they should follow medical advice. We'll be cancelling our Mothering Sunday tea for tomorrow week. And one or two of our other little church groups. But so far as I know the hall lets are continuing with their activities. After tomorrow I can't see refreshments continuing, even if church does. I fully expect the choir I sing with will have to postpone or cancel its concert at the end of March, even though not a word has been spoken about the possibility at the most recent rehearsal.
I've been trying to get round my home communion folk - phoning prior to visit, as per SEC instructions. But I'm sitting there thinking 'what if I'm bringing something in with me and it just hasn't manifested?' I want to get round so many of our likely to be isolated folk, but the whole point of them isolating is that 'outsiders' don't get access to them! Clergy are supposed to phone would-be vulnerable people before visiting to assess risk or confirm it's safe to do so. How practical or realistic is that? Access to nursing homes for visitors has already been stopped. Yet I had a hospital appointment yesterday which was all very normal, except for there being spaces in the car-park, a very unusual occurrence! And our GP clinics have stopped people coming in for ordinary appointments; and we have to phone before going if we're picking up scripts or are coming in for any other reason.
There's a very peculiar feeling of business as usual vs. let's start reducing contact now and play safe. And no-one seems to know which way to go. I think it's confusing, too, because different parts of the UK seems to be doing different things. And the screeds of 'guidelines' from the Bishops on de-contaminating chasubles, spacing communicants and limiting who touches the bloody tea-cups or washes the cutlery just seems to get longer and more impractical as each Sunday passes. Still people are in pretty good heart and apart from the panic buyers, keeping a level head.
It looks like a significant amount of the new infections are coming by way of people are sick but don't know it yet. Which means that theoretically, anybody could be carrying the virus around to anybody. This sucks. I can decide what risks to run for myself, but being responsible for someone else's infection is a whole nother deal.
This is complicated by the fact that I've had a mild headache for a couple of days, and I am highly allergic to tree pollen--which is busting out everywhere in my neighborhood. At any other time I'd assume the headache and feeling of being a little off is nothing but seasonal allergies. But now I can't make that assumption. And I can't get tested, because a) tests are being limited to folks with a fever and at least one other symptom, and b) even if they'd give to me, it's entirely possible to test negative in the earliest days of the infection.
So I'm going to go read the lessons tomorrow for the American congregation, but at a safe distance, and touch nobody. And for the Vietnamese, .... I just don't know. Our room is tiny, and you could only get three people in it if you kept to the six foot radius. That isn't going to happen. And we have a huggy person who seems to be verging on dementia, and I don't think we're going to be able to fend her off.
Mr. Lamb refuses to translate and distribute the "how to care for a coronavirus patient" instructions I typed up, on the grounds that people will sue if we hand them out and they lose a family member. And I'm bound to say he's quite right about the foolishness and sue-happy-ness of the population (I think the church would behave better, but the whole Vietnamese population here calls on us when in need). He will only give instructions orally for just this reason. I foresee a really sucky time with the phone ringing a lot as cases multiply.
Maybe I'm wrong.
I hope I'm wrong.
Please, God?
We shall see.
If that was to persist for four months or more, it's questionable whether we'd be in a position to get going again.
- most of those taking part were people on their own, so I think it proved its worth immediately
- comments allow people to respond, write prayers, suggest songs, etc.
- we celebrated communion, inviting each participant to grab suitable elements around them
This all seemed to work OK within the limitations of the medium. Next step will be to make things more particpatory by hopping from one live broadcaster to another, e.g. one person for worship, one for preaching. Next step after that will be to do at least the preach via a private YouTube live link which has the advantage that people don't need to sign up to FB provided they have the link, and you can comment on YouTube too.
This. So much this. I really fear that this could be the death of many small struggling, but still currently vibrant churches. Including at least two of mine. Once the habit of churchgoing is lost, it is incredibly hard to get it re-started.
All recommended precautions were followed AFAICS, and we have not so far received any updates from Head Office.
With all due respect, that seems a bit pessimistic. Maybe churches will be closed, but maybe not, and therefore a Plan B (perhaps with slimmed-down services?) might be required.
That's the basis we're working on at the moment, but things could well change in the next few days, I know. At least we don't have to worry about the sheer numbers of people in church!
Unfortunately, the 7 or 8 includes FatherInCharge, FatherHelpingUsOut (a retired priest with PTO), and my fellow-Reader.
10 or so of us are in our 60s, the rest are (obviously) younger...
AIUI, children are less susceptible to COVID-19, so there could well be many other reasons why they're missing - FatherInCharge will be checking up (probably by phone, initially!) this week.
We usually get a fair number of under-16s (Cubs/Beavers) on Mothering Sunday, but we, too, shall have to wait and see.
Our Lent 'Family Church' yesterday afternoon had about 18 Yoof 'doing' Stations of the Cross (followed by cooking/craft activities - all scrupulously supervised). Next one is scheduled for the Saturday after Easter, but who knows if we'll still be open then?
Meanwhile, streaming from our place, which we were trying to do for the first time, failed to work properly. Wife and I went over to her mother’s to watch with her, but alas.
Yes, but I wonder if this situation might play out a little differently. Here, at least, it’s not just churches that are closed; it’s lots of things, so it’s not like there are many alternatives to get used to. My hunch is that when this is over, people will crave a return to normalcy, including going to church if that’s part of normalcy for them.
We've now adopted the official guidance for the CofE that's been issued this week, so hand sanitizer, no contact at the peace, and communion in one kind. As we use a new service booklet each week - combined readings, propers and notices, with an accompanying sheet for the hymns, we don't have to worry about books too much, although the sidesmen weren't handing them out, and instead we took them from a line on the side.
Most people stayed for coffee as usual, we have china mugs and it's served by two people, who today were using sanitizer and gloves, so we were only handling our own cups, and the biscuits were individually wrapped Twix bars to minimize potential cross-contamination.
He is circulating last years service booklets to liturgy leaders for comment if we do go ahead this year. In fairness it changes very little from year to year!
All it takes is a cell phone.
We have a few teenagers - they'd probably jump at the chance to do something technical!