



After being forced this spring to shutter doors for all of Lent and Easter, local churches across the Fox Valley were undoubtedly praying for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic and a welcome return to near normalcy for Advent and Christmas.
Heaven only knows —and scientists too — why the world was not able to beat back the virus by the close of the year. But at least restrictions were eased during the summer here in Illinois, which allowed churches to offer at most 30% occupancy as long as other safety protocols were followed.
Which left religious leaders with plenty of decisions to make about how to handle this most holy time of year.
Waiting patiently — as Advent tells us to do — for a vaccine as well as the Messiah, some churches are trying to accommodate as many of the faithful as possible, while others have decided to keep doors closed and Zoom going.
The Rev. Jeff Moore has been committed to meeting in person with his First Presbyterian Church congregation in Aurora, although that came to a temporary halt in early November when “we had to shut it down for two weeks” after he tested positive for COVID-19 following a Sunday service when he preached.
Initially after the governor declared churches could reopen with restrictions, this large church on East Downer Place offered five smaller services, with help from a “preaching team” of lay people.
Gradually that number dropped to four, Moore told me. And with a decrease in attendance during this latest surge, the services are now down to three on Sundays only.
Which is how things will continue through Advent, with all services also streamed for what the senior pastor describes as a “strong” online attendance. And other activities are planned to help people stay connected, he noted, including a Giving Tree that has supported 45 at-risk kids and Advent readalongs and devotionals for families in their own homes.
As for those special Christmas Eve and Christmas Day gatherings so popular with the Christian faithful, “we thought about expanding to more services,” Moore said, but decided to offer only two — 4 and 7 p.m. — on Christmas Eve with first-come, first-served reservations.
“If we get an overwhelming response and fill up (reservations) by the end of the week, maybe we will add more services,” he said. “We don’t want to turn away anyone for Christmas Eve. But then again, we don’t get everything we wish for, especially this year.”
That sign-up process is also how most Catholic parishes in the Rockford Diocese have handled Sunday and daily Masses since June as well. And that plan will continue through the year, with churches getting the OK from Bishop David Malloy to increase the number of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Masses, and to open up other areas on the church campus, such as gyms and parish halls, to allow for overflow that is expected during these services.
But of course that is only if the parish has enough volunteers to staff those additional Masses with check-ins, tracing protocols, ushering and sanitation duties, noted diocese spokesperson Penny Wiegert.
Rules were also put into place recently by the bishop for other important December events especially observed by Rockford’s growing Hispanic population. Those include this week’s Our Lady of Guadalupe celebration, as well as the Christmas novenas, Las Posadas and Simbang Gambi, which can entail multiple nights of celebration, receptions and food.
Only this year, says Wiegert, all gatherings must be offered outdoors or virtually, and in the case of Simbang Gambi, can’t be held over all nine days.
Some local churches never did open their doors, including Wesley United Methodist on North May Street in Aurora.
“We did consider it,” when restrictions were eased, said the Rev. John Bell, who participates in the Kane County Health Department’s regular calls with clergy.
But from those conversations it was clear that coronavirus case numbers were going up, the senior pastor noted. And it’s much harder to adhere to safety in an older church like Wesley UMC, he added, when there is no central air to help with circulation.
Also, he added, unlike some pastors who were getting pressure from their people to open, “our congregation was not asking to meet in person, which has been helpful.”
Of course services will continue to be available online, as they have since March, with a platform that allows participants to chat with each other and take part in other virtual activities.
While Bell misses preaching and interacting with his diverse congregation, he says he’s taking advantage of “a beautiful sanctuary” that has been decorated and filmed for these remote gatherings. Also, like others, Wesley UMC is promoting more at-home Advent traditions, and “always trying to think of ways for people to physically stay connected,” he said, pointing to a letter-writing campaign “to each other and to Jesus” that focuses on the “hopes, dreams and concerns we are going through.”
The Rev. Kerrick Woodfork, pastor of Solid Rock Ministries on Barnes Road in Aurora, says his Pentecostal gospel church, which met outdoors until October and added two weekday services in addition to Sundays to adhere to the governor’s mandates and make sure no one is turned away for Advent and Christmas, also “wants to make sure something is happening all the time to keep people connected.”
This is a high-stress time, he points out, and is especially tough for those struggling with loss, trauma or depression, even when there’s no pandemic going on.
But Christmas is also the perfect time to remember that, “although we may be socially distanced and isolated,” Bell noted, “we are never alone when God is with us.”
That’s why Advent and its focus on hope is “also a time for personal reflection … when we take stock in what we have, count our blessings, reevaluate what is important,” he said.
“And think about what we can do differently when this pandemic is over.”