500+ DC Churchgoers Urged to Self-Quarantine After Their Priest Tests Positive for Coronavirus

Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and health officials are strongly recommending that an entire church self-quarantine after a priest tested positive for the coronavirus.

During a video conference on March 10, Bowser urged anyone who attended recent services at the Christ Church in Georgetown to isolate themselves for the safety of everyone. 

"On Sunday night, DC Health announced that they were recommending that all people who visited the church on either February 24 or between February 28 and March 3 self quarantine for 14 days since the last time they visited the church," she said.

Bowser explained the recommendation came directly from medical officials. 

"When orders like that come, they come from medical officials and that order for self-quarantine was a directive from the DC Department of Health." 

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— Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) March 10, 2020

Prior to testing positive for COVID-19, Rev. Timothy Cole offered communion and shook hands with hundreds of church worshippers. 

Christ Church wrote in a Facebook post that Rev. Cole tested positive for COVID-19 on March 7. 

"Christ Church, Georgetown, can confirm that our Rector, Tim Cole, has tested positive for the coronavirus. Tim was diagnosed last night and is in stable condition at a local hospital."

The church followed up that Facebook post with another on March 9 confirming that "organist and choirmaster, Tom Smith was diagnosed with coronavirus."

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As the coronavirus outbreak continues to spread, church leaders are considering how this will affect their congregations and the services they provide to the community. 

Dr. Corne Bekker, dean of the School of Divinity at Regent University explained that churches have already started taking practical steps toward protection.

"The first and probably most the important is how do you serve communion. More traditional churches sometimes use a common cup and they have decided to stop that," Bekker said. "Many churches have the giving of the peace or the greeting that is part of the liturgy and instead of shaking hands, there is an elbow touch or just a wave."

Also churches are weighing the option of moving to online services.

"The second thing churches are doing is considering whether to move services online, which is kind of a radical step to take. The third one is the encouragement of doing worship within the home with family as the unit," Bekker added.

In Greenwood Village, Colorado, worshippers at St. Peter Lutheran Church have dropped the traditional handshake and switched to an elbow or fist bump. 

"We're trying to be careful to make sure our communion servers have their hands well clean and that people know how to be careful and thoughtful when they receive the bread and the wine," said Dave Risendal, pastor of St. Peter Lutheran.

Even with the absence of hugs and handshaking, some churchgoers disagree with the idea of cancelling worship services. 

Peggye Mills, who attends St. Paul United Methodist Church in San Antonio, Texas, stressed that the coronavirus won't prevent her from going to church.

"If I'm going to avoid crowds, church would be the last one I would give up. I believe that my faith will carry me through," she said. "This is not the first pandemic crisis we have been through. We went to extraordinary measures when there was H1N1…When we buy into these panics, it makes me doubt whether our faith is as strong as we claim it is."

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