Treasure Valley churches worship while watching Covid rates closely

BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — At the Cathedral of the Rockies, as with many Treasure Valley churches, a sense of normalcy returned as Covid-19 cases dropped.

"We opened in early June (after 17 months of online worship) and said you can come and the CDC said no masks," said Pastor Duane Anders. "And then the surge came and we said OK, masks are strongly encouraged. We went from 5% of the congregation with no masks to 98% with masks, really wanting to love our neighbor."

Pastor Duane says there's plenty of room to social distance. And he says 95 percent of the congregation who responded to a recent survey reported they had been vaccinated.

I asked what circumstances would make the First United Methodist Church go back to online services. "We constantly listen to the CDC and science and the city," Duane said. "If the city were to mandate a closure or the CDC said, 'stop gathering in large groups,' we would listen to that and go back online."

Amy Fife, communications director for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, says their church is also paying close attention to recommendations from health experts and community leaders.

"We are very mindful and respectful of local guidelines and community leadership," Fife said. "The wearing of masks, handwashing, lots of sanitation of buildings before and after use... all these things are happening."

In a recent statement to priests in the Catholic Diocese of Boise, Bishop Peter Christensen said each pastor, using their best judgment, can make decisions in regards to Covid protocols in his own parish.

Bishop Brian Thom of the Episcopal Diocese of Idaho says their church is also counting on local congregations to take the lead.

"We're hanging our hat on science, we trust that," Bishop Thom said. "I have the ability to require masks when people worship in our churches, everybody was pretty good about that the first time. I think they would be again. But I don't want to do that, local people sense their own situation, our clergy are very good at wanting everybody to be vaccinated."

Legend has it a wise man once said, of good times and bad—this too shall pass.

The question with the pandemic is....when?

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