For these Assumption church parishioners, Easter will mean celebrating together — online
Rev. Jeffrey Moore reaches back more than a hundred years to find the precedence for shutting down public Masses on a large scale.
That was during the 1918 flu pandemic, the priest at Assumption Catholic Church in Bellingham said, and, even then, the consensus on suspending Mass wasn’t as widespread.
In the 2020 fight to slow the spread of COVID-19, an infectious respiratory illness that is especially dangerous to the elderly, every Archdiocese in the U.S. has stopped public Masses for the time being. In Washington state, Gov. Jay Inslee has issued a “stay-at-home” order that has been extended at least through May 4. That order bans all gatherings, including spiritual ones.
Moore has been streaming services on his public Facebook page since March 12
Parishioners say they are grateful for Moore’s presence online, but not being able to gather together — they have been told to pray at home and not at church — has been tough, especially during Holy Week and leading into Easter, which is on Sunday.
“It seems wrong that the holiest days of our liturgical year should have to be celebrated in isolation, but please know we are doing everything we can to ensure that our people will be able to participate in these rich liturgies, even from their own homes,” Assumption wrote in a letter to its parishioners.
While necessary, the change has been challenging, Moore said.
“It’s been hard for me as a minister because even though I am naturally introverted, the whole purpose of my life is service of others,” Moore said.
Without that personal contact, that one-on-one communication, or being able to see people streaming in and out of church on Sunday, without that interpersonal connection, Moore said, “Things feel a lot dryer.”
“You want to serve people and they give you a sense, an energy, a boost,” the priest said.
In the Catholic faith, Mass is the high point of everything. People have been persecuted and died rather than give up Mass, he said.
“It’s a last ditch, this is the furthest we could ever go. It’s the biggest thing we could do,” Moore said of the decision to suspend all public Masses, not only here but nationwide.
Moore said he has been mulling over a phrase: “The question is where is God in this? We think that’s an important question because we do believe that somehow God is going to find a way to use this for good.”
God doesn’t want a disease or a pandemic, but “We think He can bring something good from it.”
Perhaps people will come out of this feeling a lot closer to their families and to their faith as well as come out appreciating what Mass is — “That it’s a gift, and not just a duty,” Moore said.
As for Assumption’s parishioners, they shared with The Bellingham Herald their thoughts on worship in the time of the coronavirus pandemic.
Veena Singh
Singh is a 65-year-old Bellingham resident. She has diabetes and while she feels good, she knows being diabetic puts her in the vulnerable population when it comes to COVID-19.
“Honestly, it has been really hard not attending church regularly but thanks to Father Moore for finding ways of keeping us connected. His daily and weekend livestream Masses have been great, especially the ones he does in the church,” Singh said.
“By looking at the surroundings it makes us feel like we are virtually there. His homilies get us through week by week and just being connected has been a great help going through these difficult times. I loved my Sunday morning Masses, going there and connecting with other parishioners. That part has been really difficult, not seeing and saying hello to them.
“This being Holy Week, it makes it that much harder. I love going to Easter services and it’ll definitely be very different this year. But I have full faith in Father Moore to make it special for all of us through his livestream service.
“I work for Catholic Community Services Long Term Care as a home-care aid and work with two different clients with minor disabilities at their homes on alternate days. They let us work some hours from home, but the hands-on stuff needs to be done at the clients’ place.
“I also work as a cashier at Target, so I am usually there three days a week.
“Both my jobs are essential work and it can be scary at times, but I pray, listen to Father Moore’s livestream Masses and put my trust in God to get us through these times of difficulty. I do use PPEs when I am at work so that I am protected.”
Gerry Kahle
Kahle, 73, and his wife are both retired scientists who moved to Bellingham in 2005.
“My wife is 76 and a leap-year baby. This past Feb. 29 we held a party in D’Anna’s for 18 of our family and friends,” Kahle said. “One of our guests, an 80-year-old friend from Bellingham, has already succumbed to COVID-19 so this virus has become personal to us.”
“Joni Mitchell famously sang, “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone” and this applies to the current situation,” he said”
“I always thought that daily Mass was the provenance of elderly women dressed in black. However, I find myself watching Father Moore most days online as he celebrates the Mass. In this time of angst, anxiety and agita, I find great comfort in the quiet spirituality of Father Moore’s online presence.
“I think that the church being shuttered will paradoxically be its finest hour (to use a Churchillian phrase). In this hour of need, my church at least is stepping up to provide spiritual service at the highest level. One does not usually associate the Catholic Church with technical progress but in this instance at least it has really used what is at hand, streaming video, to meet the needs of its congregation.
“Of one thing I’m certain. Parishioners will never forget Holy Week of 2020.”
Susan Roland
Roland, 67, is a Bellingham resident. “At first, ‘tuning’ into the online Mass felt very different and a little awkward,” she said. “I felt more like an onlooker than a participant.
“The third time I participated, I was ‘seeing’ more people I knew because they gave a greeting in the comment section and during the sign of peace, people were writing peace to everyone, or Christ’s peace be with you in the comments, so it was becoming a different kind of community.
“Of course I would rather be together in the church in person, in community, but as long as we are helping to keep people safe by staying home, then building a community online through prayer and participation in the Mass is a good action.”
Together online
Assumption Catholic Church isn’t alone in using technology to stay in touch and to stay together.
Other spiritual leaders also have gathered with their people online, adjusting in the age of the new coronavirus.
Red Cedar Zen Community
Members of the meditation and Buddhist center in Bellingham last met in-person on the night of March 11 to decide what to do as a community, according to Nomon Tim Burnett. They subsequently closed their Dharma Hall and moved all practice online.
“People have been responding well. We’ve had typical to larger-than-usual numbers online versus in person. A few people have had some trouble connecting and we’ve been able to help them. And quite a few people had never done online video meetings before and have consistently reported being pleased with how connected and workable it feels,” Burnett said to The Herald.
“Like everyone, we’re using Zoom,” Burnett said. “Without question: it’s soothing and renewing to connect online for our members.”
Guru Nanak Gursikh Gurdwara
The Sikh temple near Lynden has canceled all programs and moved online.
It is no longer providing langar, which is the free and communal vegetarian meal provided by the temple to all who come there, including visitors.
Temple leaders also have postponed May’s celebration of Vaisakhi, a religious new year celebration and spring harvest festival at the temple that also includes food and a parade.
The annual event is open to the community and draws up to 5,000 people, many from Canada, according to Sukhwant Singh Gill, the temple’s president.
Gill said the temple’s members have supported its decisions.
“They know what’s happening. They know this is for some reason, for the safety of the people,” he said to The Herald.
Congregation Beth Israel
The synagogue in Bellingham has turned to Facebook and the Zoom video conferencing app to communicate, to lead Shabbat services, for Torah studies and for community Seder on Thursday, April 9, a ceremonial dinner during Passover.
Rabbi Joshua Samuels turned to Facebook to communicate what could be a difficult challenge for Jews celebrating Passover during COVID-19.
“Passover is the most widely celebrated festival amongst American Jews and it also happens to be the one which causes the most stress and anxiety too. We tend to be more strict in our observance of Passover than any other holiday. We clean our homes of hametz; we shop for unusual foods; we look carefully at labels like never before; we prepare for days leading up to the Seder,” Samuels wrote on the synagogue’s Facebook page.
The rabbi added: “This year I hope that you will consider lessening the burden you might be feeling in replicating Seders from the past. Due to limitations of certain products and more importantly, to refrain from shopping at all, please know that it is the intention, or kavanah, that truly matters, and not whether the wine we drink has a kosher-for-Passover label.”
In an interview with The Herald, Samuels said the synagogue’s members are accepting the need to move online.
“People are patient and they understand that this really is the best way to maintain community,” he said.
Reaching out through Zoom has allowed him to reach others who wouldn’t normally come to the synagogue — they live far away or they’re homebound — and “now they’re finally able to participate and see everyone,” Samuels said.
“They feel a renewed sense of community, that they can join us for services and study sessions and so much else,” he said.
Samuels said Beth Israel has even had a funeral through Zoom and while that was “heartbreaking,” using the platform allowed more people to show their respects.
“This has opened the door for us to be able to reach out far and wide,” he said, adding that some have asked whether he will continue the virtual community in some way when life returns to normal. “It’s been a blessing in many respects.”
Christ the King
Grant Fishbook, lead teaching pastor, said that CTK’s six campuses in Whatcom County have moved online and are using its online platforms of live.ctk.church, Facebook Live and the CTK App. It also can be found on Apple TV and Roku.
“Our church had an online presence but the new factor is the ‘live’ component. CTK Bellingham is truly live at all three weekend worship experiences,” Fishbook said to The Herald. “We are committed to the live experience because of our communities’ need for normalcy. There is something powerful about knowing that the person on the screen is actually present, live and in real time.”
He said church members are responding well.
“The people of CTK have been incredible in the face of the crisis. They are constantly encouraging us that the livestream is an important connection point with their spiritual family,” Fishbook said. “The church has never been about a building. The church is about Jesus and people, and while we cannot gather in the same physical space, we are united in loving God and loving our neighbors.”
This story was originally published April 9, 2020 at 11:23 AM.
