Palo Alto church reports that a person with COVID-19, and the person’s relative, were on the campus within past two weeks – Palo Alto Online

Last Sunday, the leadership at First Presbyterian Church of Palo Alto, like at many local faith communities, discussed how to respond to the coronavirus epidemic in light of the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recommendations against large public gatherings.

The very next day, that decision on what to do was all but made for them when they heard from a group that rents space at the Cowper Street church.

“We were informed by a tenant that less than two weeks ago a member of their group, who tested positive for COVID-19, attended a meeting on the FPCPA campus. We were also informed that a relative, who had yet to be tested but had been in close proximity was present just three days ago. As far as we understand both individuals were only in one classroom,” the church wrote in an online message to the congregation.

“With this news, late into the night on Monday, the Session (church governing body) decided that, in addition to a deep clean of the facilities, with an abundance of caution and care, we would close down the FPCPA campus and that all FPCPA gatherings and meetings would take place online through the end of April.”

The decision to suspend face-to-face worship is particularly difficult because of the impending Holy Week and Easter, among the most important times of Christian worship when many people come together, Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow told the Weekly by phone on Wednesday.

But more than 60% of First Presbyterian’s congregation is over age 60, a demographic the CDC says is at higher risk of complications and death from COVID-19. While it was difficult to make the decision to close his church campus, “once we realized this is not about us, this is a public health issue, it became very easy to make that decision,” he said.

Faith communities across the country are wrestling with how best to serve their members while also keeping them safe from the coronavirus, which is now designated a pandemic by the World Health Organization.

In-person worship is giving way to live-streamed services; meetings and classes are going digital. Even in churches continuing to meet, many are foregoing the tradition of shaking a pew neighbor’s hand with a greeting of “Peace be with you”; donations are no longer being collected in baskets handed from parishioner to parishioner. And communion, a most revered sacrament of wine and bread, is now coming in sanitary, prepackaged containers.

The social and structural changes necessitated by COVID-19 pose a challenge to faith communities’ basic identities as places to congregate, some faith leaders said.

Faith communities are places “where people want to go. … When they are going through a hard crisis, we want to tell them, ‘Come here,'” said Ellen Bob, executive director of Congregation Etz Chayim in Palo Alto.

But now these same places of solace and community are telling people to stay away.

The coronavirus outbreak has even forced one congregation out of its place of worship. James Bailon, director of operations for Grace Presbyterian Church of Silicon Valley, said his church rents space at Palo Alto High School. The school has ended all of its rentals to outside groups until the end of the school year, he said.

With 150 to 250 members, his church has been holding two services at Paly, and the small staff is looking at all alternatives, including pre-recording and broadcasting Sunday services. They are also looking for another site to rent, he said.

Plenty of other faith communities are also turning to tech. First Presbyterian’s Reyes-Chow led a Zoom conference with 70 other pastors and staff from various faith communities to discuss how they can best transition to technology. As a church, First Presbyterian has been using social media for a long time and is currently planning to make its whole religious service accessible via Zoom. Smaller groups that formerly met at the church will also use the Zoom platform, he said.

The transition might be harder for some in his congregation, however — especially the many members who live in retirement communities. The church is sending out “tech deacons” to help people access services and communicate with the church, he said.

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