LEAWOOD, Kan. — With stay-at-home orders being lifted in Kansas and Missouri, there are many questions surrounding when churches might return to in-person services.
As it stands, churches can have in-person services with no more than ten people.
Pastor Adam Hamilton of The Church of the Resurrection is seeking guidance from pastors around the nation on how to open the doors of his church. He said there was a consensus that nobody would open before mid-June.
“Just because the government says it's OK to open doesn't necessarily mean that is the smartest thing to do," Hamilton said.
He is also having church members fill out a survey getting their thoughts on returning. The church is the largest religious organization in the Kansas City, which adds pressure for Hamilton to make the right decision, he said.
"We are going to have a lot of conversations over the next few weeks and we will monitor what health officials are dictating," Hamilton said.
Pastors such as George Westlake III from Sheffield Family Life Center in Kansas City, Missouri, are facing the same dilemma.
"Who wears masks and gloves? You are going to have some people who are nervous about it. You have some people who feel they are susceptible and who are. You are going to have others who believe nothing can ever happen to them. It's a real mixed bag. We have to hit it from all angles," Westlake said.
Westlake and Hamilton agreed it will be a while before church is back to normal.
"I don't expect to get together in any kind of large percentage until June or possibly July," Westlake said.
"We are trying to protect our people. We want them to be in worship but we don't want them to create an environment where people are getting sick," Hamilton said.
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