Why My Church Will Wear Masks
The reasoning for wearing masks is simple—to love one another. This is the command of Jesus: Love your neighbor. And who is my neighbor according to Jesus? Well, everyone.
We don’t know much about this novel coronavirus, but we know some. We know the virus spreads through respiratory droplets (in addition to spreading via surfaces and touching). Some studies have suggested that singing—yes, singing—spreads respiratory droplets further than coughing. And singing is essential to most church services, particularly ours. Since many COVID-19 carriers are asymptomatic, they can feel great, come to church, sing…and infect numerous others. Masks prevent respiratory droplets from traveling via coughing, sneezing, and, yes, singing. Here is one (of many) articles that explain the way the virus spreads through singing, if you’re inclined to read a more detailed/scientific breakdown from an expert.
If you don’t have time to read the article, here is the money quote: "Singing, to a greater degree than talking, aerosolizes respiratory droplets extraordinarily well. Deep-breathing while singing facilitated those respiratory droplets getting deep into the lungs.” This article refers to one incident involving a choir you can read about here. While practicing social distancing, hand sanitizing, etc., an outbreak occurred (as best we can tell) through singing, and singing alone. There are other articles about how the virus spreads through singing, as well. Read here, here, or even here.
Other issues compound the singing problem. Namely: air conditioning. Air conditioned environments circulate the air of an enclosed area, potentially spreading aerosolized respiratory droplets even further. This is why those who study the virus are most concerned about large gatherings that take place indoors over extended periods of time. Now add singing to the mix. How do you feel? Mildly concerned? Me too. This is why we are encouraging masks for those who are attending our services. If you want to read about how the virus can spread in an enclosed environment through HVAC, read here.
Point being: Singing appears to add risk. HVAC appears to add risk. So masks are necessary. Additionally, I have heard through my wife (who is an educator) that schools across Texas may eliminate or adjust choir until a solution is found because singing is a problem for which we have yet, as a society, to find a solution. Unless you count masks. Because masks help us love our neighbor.
How is it loving?
Primarily, it is loving to those who have underlying issues or are in the vulnerable category. I have heart failure, and yet I pastor my congregation. I don’t have the luxury of not attending worship and watching from home unless my church chooses to make some special stipulations. Another one of my staff members has diabetes. This staff member is essential to Sunday morning, as well. Others have other underlying issues. And then, of course, there are those who don’t yet know they have underlying health issues. Will we choose to love them or not? The elders of my church have deemed the simplest way for us to love those who gather is to ask everyone to wear a mask.
We know many see masks as political. They are not political. They are practical. We know many see them as an infringement on their rights. Perhaps, if you are wanting to go to Target. But not if you want to come to church. The church is a family. We are to love and protect one another. If you won’t wear a mask, you’ve made your statement, “I think I am more important than you are.” Wearing a mask is an act of service; it is a way to wash the feet of my brother and sister in Christ.
But what if I’m not afraid? Why can’t those who are afraid wear a mask and leave me alone?
If it worked that way, that’s what we would do. But the mask is most effective at keeping aerosolized droplets IN. Once infected respiratory droplets have gone out, a mask is not very effective at stopping them from being breathed in. If you want to read up on the science of how masks work, you can read here. If you don’t have time to read the data, here’s the bottom line: If you are infected and don’t wear a mask, even if I do, my risk of infection is very high. If we both wear a mask, my risk of infection is very low. So we will be wearing masks.
By the way, some churches have been meeting for a few weeks, choosing to employ social distancing, but not choosing to wear masks. And we know that some of those churches have already seen outbreaks. Here’s one example of a church in Georgia that has already shut back down. Here’s an example of a church in Galveston. I also know of another one in DFW, but have been asked to not mention the church’s name, as it hasn’t gone public and they have already shut down in-person worship. I can tell you that they met in person, employed social distancing, and 8 of the 100 attendees have COVID now. That took two worship services. They did not ask their members to wear masks.
Other churches of size in our area are doing the same, by the way. We are not the only church who has seen this data.
Finally: Some are saying that the original purpose was to “flatten the curve,” and that now we have moved past the danger zone with regard to hospital capacity. Yes, that was—and is—the purpose. But remember this: Just because we are re-opening our economy and churches doesn’t mean that the pandemic is over. It simply means that the ICU has room for you if you were to need space. If we want to re-open, we should do so wisely. Masks are a great tool, especially if everyone wears them while in public. Some studies say that if 80 percent of the population wore cloth masks while in public, the pandemic would end, because the R-number would drop below one. Why is this pandemic continuing? Not because we have yet to achieve “herd immunity.” We still have a pandemic because most Americans are too proud to wear a cloth mask.
You may find my reasoning (or the reasoning of our church elders) to be flawed. But do not think that we have not thought through this a great deal. We may change our minds as more data comes out, but as of today, this seems to be our wisest move to protect the Body.
It is also the best way to love our neighbor.
This is the Way.