As churches across the country are reopening for in-person services, SOLA asked leaders of Asian American congregations who have reopened to share their experiences. This article is not designed to be a template for others but a snapshot of what some are experiencing so that we can learn and pray. We recognize that context, culture, demographic, timing, partnership, philosophy, and availability all play a factor in whether a congregation should or can open.
As of June 30, 2020:
- Though many Asian American congregations have reopened, an informal survey has revealed that a vast many still have not. In fact, some Asian American leaders have communicated that they do not foresee their churches reopening in 2020.
- All of the congregations featured here are continuing to offer an online version of their services.
- Please note that three of the featured congregations have made a decision to temporarily pause services as of this publication.
Journey of Faith Church
Independent Korean American church in Dallas, Texas
Reopening Service: May 17
Caleb Kim, MD (Deacon)
Preparations
The church took all necessary precautions including seating, cleaning, mandatory masks, UV treatment, seating assignments, shorter service, no fellowship inside the church, extra cleaning, and more.
Children and Youth
None, but was allowed to sit next to parents. Currently we did resume children’s ministry.
What was your attendance compared to pre-COVID days?
40% adults on the reopening and currently at 60% after being open for six weeks.
What was your reopening service like?
Very blessed as people were glad to be there.
What would you like to say to other churches who are planning their reopening?
There has to be a balance of caution and faith. Need to be educated to understand all the aspects of the COVID-19. It is very easy to be swayed one way or another. Fear should not be the driving factor, but a balance of facts, precaution, faith and ultimately trusting the Lord through prayer. Take the proper precautions, but at the end recognize that there is absolutely no way to be fool proof, and that we can take steps forward in faith. We have definitely enjoyed being back live. Some from other churches have been joining us due to their desire for live service.
Covina First Southern Baptist Church
Chinese church in Covina, California
Reopening Service: June 14 (English service only. Mandarin service has not yet met in-person)
Dean Eltiti (English Ministry Pastor)
Preparations
We limited the attendance for our first two services on May 31 and June 7 to members and those closely associated with our church so that we could have a soft reopening. We worked hard to complete all the requirements of the Los Angeles County Health Department checklist in less than four days.
Children and Youth
No programs for them at the moment, and so they stayed with their family unit for the whole service.
What was your attendance compared to pre-COVID days?
[The adult attendance] was probably about 50% at our reopening service as many are still staying at home as they are either in a vulnerable group, live with those in a vulnerable group, or have parents that are fearful of COVID-19 transmission at church, we had plenty of room still available. This is higher than we expected as the English congregation has a lot of young people compared to our Mandarin ministry, which has a lot of elderly and families with children.
What was your reopening service like?
It was a joy to have some of the congregation in the pews, being able to sing, read scripture together and be able to preach to real people. However, it felt very strange having everyone spread out more than six feet apart and not being able to read facial expressions because of masks. It was also great to be able to have communion again on the second Sunday after we returned (using the prepackaged kits) after missing it in April and May.
What would you like to say to other churches who are planning their reopening?
Expect that people will be slow to come back to church because of the difficulties associated with having children’s Sunday school and the reasons mentioned. However, I strongly encourage reopening to gradually get the congregation back into the habit of physical church attendance (except where legitimate medical reasons prevent this).
Harvest
Independent church connected to a Korean church in Winter Garden, Florida
Reopening Service on June 7
David Larry Kim (Senior Pastor)
Preparations
We did not have a tiered opening when it comes to Sunday worship. We went from all online to online/in-person in one week. We made videos to explain protocol. We also emailed a protocol handout with what to expect and with what to say to people who disagree or will not comply with our guidelines.
Children and Youth
All English-speakers above youth were allowed to worship [with the English service]. Children were welcome to join with their parents for our worship service. No other programs were held on campus though. Children and youth ministry’s main gatherings are scheduled to take place one month later.
What was your attendance compared to pre-COVID days?
We definitely had room in our first service (Alpha) and we had room in our second service (Omega). Our first Sunday back had 64% compared to pre-COVID days. During our first three Sundays, we averaged 77% compared to pre-COVID days.
What was your reopening service like?
We did surveys asking what percentage of Sunday services they had attended online during quarantine, and what percentage over the past month prior to re-gathering. Both percentages hovered at around 90% during quarantine and 90% for the last four Sundays so we were getting really consistent attendance online.
That said, we had three major groups: 1. This was SO MUCH better than online, 2. This felt just like it did pre-COVID, and 3. While great to be back, there was something definitely missing. Most people fell into the first camp, my wife was in the second, and I was in the third. I was really excited, pumped up, but it “felt” different. I can’t say that there was any fear, but the new protocols were a bit distracting the first week; not distracting for worship, but we just knew things weren’t the same. Like most people have said, worshiping with masks can be quite hard because you can’t hear voices around you, though many wanted to sing out loud. Not hugging, leaving right away to go outdoors immediately after service made it tough to ignore that things were different.
However, the fellowship after service was great, since many of these folks had not seen each other in weeks. Simply being together was wonderful. And I will say that come week 2, worship began to feel like it did again: intimate, expressive. In fact, more people were expressive during songs than pre-quarantine. There was a sense of longing and hunger, a sense that this is right and this is how we’re wired, and the third week was even better. Hunger, longing, desire, were all much more tangible for us in week three compared to week one.
What would you like to say to other churches who are planning their reopening?
Ideally, the format of worship shouldn’t be a huge deal. God seeks worshipers who will worship in spirit and in truth over amazing worship experiences and productions. The reality is that not everyone is willing and able to give their best worship in any and every situation. We sought a somewhat critical mass before re-gathering. We did not want to just open up “because we are allowed.” We wanted to make sure that the time was right and that we could help people worship as best as possible in whatever format. We knew that we would most likely be compromising, for lack of a better word, the quality of the worship experience for those worshiping online when we went to a livestream versus a video format curated for online worshipers. We wanted to ensure that the majority of our congregants could worship in the best way possible. That meant praying for wisdom in timing and surveying our congregation to gauge their readiness to re-engage in in-person worship.
When re-gathering does happen, hold expectations lightly. God is at work, regardless of what we see. Temper your expectations of how God should be working; He may show up in ways that we did not expect or did not experience before. Disappointment is the gap between expectation and reality: see what idols God might be exposing in that disappointment. And know that each week will get better and better as fears give way to a greater focus on worship. Be flexible, willing to adjust on the fly. Trust God’s sovereignty: we have not been here before, but God is not surprised. Remain prayerful and trust that God is in your midst—both in the online space and in the physical re-gathering.
NOTE: After four weeks of in-person worship, we made the decision recently to return to online only worship services due to a spike in COVID-19 cases in Florida. The plan is to monitor the situation over the next two weeks to gauge the situation in light of new ordinances given by our county.
English Ministry of a Korean Church in Southern California
Reopening Service: June 7
Preparation
Our main preparation was to execute the Governor/County mandates for church reopening: temperature checks, spaced out seating, one-way walk paths, alcohol spray for cleaning between services. We also produced a guideline video for our members.
Children and Youth
No children or youth services yet. We do allow them to come with their parents and sit in the services with them.
What was your attendance compared to pre-COVID days?
Approximately 65% in-person attendance.
What was your reopening service like?
We had a shortened service so that we could quickly clean the sanctuary in time for the next service.
What would you like to say to other churches who are planning their reopening?
Churches may want to consider receiving consent to release a name upon the request of others, if an attendee tests positive for COVID-19. For example, if churches use registration forms, then perhaps on the registration form, there can be a clause that says, “For the sake of others who wish to contact trace, do you consent to giving the church permission to release your name to other church members upon request, should you ever test positive for COVID-19?”
Please note that this congregation had one pre-symptomatic COVID-positive person attend one of their services after their reopening. Though there was no spread due to attendance at church, the leadership made a decision to shut back down for a period of time.
Berean Community Church
Independent Asian American Church in Irvine, California
Reopening Service: June 7
Peter Kim (Senior Pastor)
Preparations
We had a dry run with leaders and service team reps to make sure all the social distancing and facility entrance and exits were going to work the way we planned. We also wanted to be sensitive to the flow of worship with half the church being home and half coming back physically to the church.
We added another service so that we could accommodate more people who wanted to come and practice safe distancing. Currently, we are running three with the second service being live streamed for people at home.
We have two thermal scanners and sanitizers spread out through the church with automatic dispensers. We sanitize the sanctuary by spraying down the chairs and anywhere people have been between each service. We’ve also established a protocol for what we would do if someone does get COVID at church. Furthermore, we’ve asked health care workers who may be around COVID patients to use our cry room instead of sitting with the rest of the congregation.
Children and Youth
We have youth group discussion time at church with all youth group parents and their youth kids attending that service together. We do not have a live stream or anything else for elementary and younger. Instead, there is an online service with a craft and singing posted each week for the parents to use for children’s service.
What was your attendance compared to pre-COVID days?
We offered three services at 100 capacity each. Our sanctuary is large enough to keep six feet distance for each seating area. The sign up was filled the first week but the actual attendance of 300 took three weeks to fill as the people who signed up took a few weeks to get back. We have accommodated most people who wanted to come back physically.
The people who are staying home are mostly young families with smaller children. Some trade off between parents without their children. We told parents that they have the option to come to church with their children if they have children old enough to sit through the service. The children are not allowed to leave their parents side and must be accommodated by parents to go to the bathroom. In total we have about half the adults (45%-50%) coming to service and most families and children staying home.
What was your reopening service like?
People were very excited to be back together but also felt constrained because they had to keep their masks on during the whole service. Right after service they also needed to leave the facilities immediately and orderly to abide by distancing rules. They are able to say hi to their friends outside but would have to leave the premises quickly to prepare for the next service. It’s not exactly the same as it was but it’s definitely better than not being together. Attendance for our church has actually increased during the quarantine with people willing to invite their non-Christian family and friends to join them online, who normally would have been reluctant to come to church. Some of those new people have even started coming to church when we opened.
What would you like to say to other churches who are planning their reopening?
There will be challenges in opening and also challenges in staying closed. Don’t expect the church to go back to what they were doing before the lock down any time soon. But along with the challenges there are new opportunities that are available that may not have been there before. For example, we planned an outreach night before the lock down for early May. It was supposed to be a major event at church as we were preparing the whole first half of the year. We were very disappointed that we weren’t able to run the event. But more and more of our church were communicating that they have family and friends that are willing to come to an online event that weren’t interested in coming in-person. We are planning to move our outreach event online and give it just as much attention. Similarly, people who couldn’t make it to our weekday Bible studies have been much more consistent in attendance because of convenience.
Are you planning on any changes going forward?
We are slowly adding physical events here and there with strict guidelines and attendance cap. We are introducing baptisms in the Sunday service with one person per service. We usually have a separate service for the baptisms but to adhere to the sanitation guidelines we are doing one person per baptism to clean and sanitize for the next person. We are beginning that in mid-July. Also, our VBS for the children will be virtual this year. We’ve had to cancel our annual church retreat which was scheduled for August and most likely won’t have one this year. We’ve also given small groups the option to meet in-person at church if they choose and gave them guidelines on how to proceed. Most small groups chose to stay online though.
Redeemer Presbyterian Church
Independent Asian American church in Los Angeles and Torrance, California (multi-site)
Reopening Service: June 21
Pastor James Han (Senior Pastor)
Preparations
We had to know what Los Angeles County Public of Health required: social distancing, wearing face masks, etc. We had to combine sites because at our Los Angeles site we were meeting at a school, which had to close. Therefore, we opened our Torrance site. We took a poll of our church to see how comfortable our members were returning to church. We decided to hold our services outdoors so that people would be more at ease than being indoors; we decided to livestream our services even outdoors. We also decided to send out an RSVP email and post it on our website so that we can know who would be attending our service for contact tracing. The message that we wanted to convey was to understand one another. For those who are online not to judge those who physically come and for those who come not to judge those who are online. Second, we wanted to let our members know that they are welcome to worship with us physically when they are ready and comfortable.
Children and Youth
We do not have programs for our children so they sat with their families.
What was your attendance compared to pre-COVID days?
We had around 20% of what we normally have including children.
What was your reopening service like?
Turnout was better than we anticipated and it was good to see everyone once again. We held our service outdoors and it went exceptionally well. The weather was beautiful and we were able to livestream. Weather permitting, we are going to keep doing our worship outdoors. The only families that came were two of our deacons families, my family, and the volunteer who has helped us with the livestream. The rest of the attendees were mostly our singles and young married couples. Everyone wore their face masks throughout the service. We didn’t require it but we strongly suggested and really pushed it.
What would you like to say to other churches who are planning their reopening?
Expect a low turnout for your service for many families are hesitant to still come. Make sure that you err on the side of caution because the people you want to come back are really concerned about their safety. Our worship is a traditional worship and so we’re not high volume or energetic and so the mood of the worship is not too different. But, praise was certainly affected because it is hard to sing with a face mask on. Even though it was good to see everyone again, the mood was a little somber.
First Evangelical Community Church
Chinese church in Cerritos, California
Reopening Service: June 21
Pastor Leonard Tan (Cerritos Campus Kairos Pastor)
For context, we are a predominantly first generation Chinese church with two English speaking congregations, two Mandarin speaking congregations and one Cantonese speaking congregation. I pastor the second English group, which has our junior high and high school students and goes up to families with young children. The first English group has mostly older English speaking adults.
Preparations
In preparation for the opening, we purchased extra hand sanitizers, hand sanitizer stations, masks and gloves for volunteers, infrared thermometers, disinfectant solution, and other cleaning supplies. We also laid out directional flow signs for people to enter and exit the buildings and we set aside certain rows for each congregation. We didn’t have any pre-services and we announced to the church about our reopening two weeks prior to June 21.
Children and Youth
We did not have any children’s services taking place so any children who came were asked to sit with their parents. Because many of the parents of our youth students attend service at a different hour and they rely on them for rides, we did not have a large number of them in attendance.
What was your attendance compared to pre-COVID days?
Attendance for our opening service was 20%. About half of those were people for the worship team, pastoral team, and ushers. The actual number of attendees was low for our service. In our English adults service, in-person attendance was closer to 50%. I took a survey of the congregation prior to our opening and knew that many folks were still planning on staying home.
What was your reopening service like?
Because we were transitioning to focus on doing church online, our service remained pretty much the same. We limited our entire service to one hour per the state’s guidelines and singing was limited to a total of three songs. We added a box for people to drop their offering but we did not pass any offering bags. One of the ushers also recorded the seating location of each attendee for contact tracing in case we discover someone becoming infected. After service concluded, people stayed around to talk for about ten minutes before we asked everyone to leave so we could disinfect the space for the following week.
What would you like to say to other churches who are planning their reopening?
The in-person experience is highly contextual. For us, the people who attended were glad to be there but the overall service felt muted. On the other hand, a few of our other congregations felt very excited to have in-person services resume and reported a much more enthusiastic reception (this would be for our Chinese speaking congregations). I think it’s important to discern the cost benefit for a particular group of people. With all the preparations needed to be made as well as all the costs associated with purchasing cleaning supplies and personal protective equipment, You would need to decide whether that is all worth the cost of having a one hour service of limited singing and personal interaction. For some groups, it is a worthwhile investment, while for others, it may be better to hold off until people feel more comfortable and when the number of cases decreases more. I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer, so we would need to be faithful to how God may be leading us in our particular community.
As an update from when the survey was first conducted, our church has decided to suspend in-person services effective until further notice with June 28 having been our last service. With the spike of infections in Los Angeles County, many of our congregation members expressed concern about holding in-person services. The pastoral staff is currently discussing criteria for resuming services in the future.
Evergreen SGV Church
Independent Asian American church in La Puente, California
Reopening Service: June 21
Rocky Seto (Senior Pastor)
Preparations
We had two soft openings on June 7 and June 14 with staff, board, volunteers and family. The worship was real but we were able to practice the execution of the protocols that we were following. The intent of the two soft reopening services were intended to learn about how to best care for our church family.
Children and Youth
We did not have any separate youth or children’s service, we have been providing Zoom meetings for them. We only offered the worship service. We did allow children to be on campus as we trusted the parents to feel confident that their children would be able to comply with the guidelines.
What was your attendance compared to pre-COVID days?
On June 21, our church family was able to RSVP to worship in-person. We provided two options (sanctuary and MPR) for in-person worship and the max cap for each room was 100. The Sanctuary worship experience offered live in-person worship music and preaching. The MPR offered a live stream along with an in-person pre-service and post service greeting by me. The Sanctuary RSVP maxed out and the MPR RSVP was approximately 35. This is about 20% of our pre-COVID average.
What was your reopening service like?
The reopening service was a huge blessing. Being able to see one another and to worship our Lord with one another was special. The MPR experience was great as well. Even though the MPR was a live stream of the music and the preaching, it was a great blessing to be able to gather together.
What would you like to say to other churches who are planning their reopening?
We are seeking to be unified as a church family as we have a spectrum on how comfortable we are about gathering together for worship service. For now, I have been trying to mitigate any divisiveness by blessing the choice to attend or to worship from home. There are so many different circumstances for our church family. The reason for reopening was that we desired to care for those who were comfortable with the gathering for in-person services. Many have had a difficult time of being separated from one another.
Jericho Road Church
Independent mostly Asian American church in Irvine, California
Reopening Service: June 28
Sam Thomsic (Senior Pastor)
Preparations
Run through with key team members.
Children and Youth
We have decided to do all family worship until there is a resolution for COVID-19. This means kids come with their parents and sit with them in one service all together. Chairs are set up to accommodate groups of four in a family.
What was your attendance compared to pre-COVID days?
We had about 35% of our regular attendance, our sanctuary had seats of 50% of regular attendance at appropriate distances.
What was your reopening service like?
It was a bit different than usual because of masks but those who were comfortable coming to church really appreciated the ability to do so and those who were uncomfortable coming physically appreciated the ability to worship remotely.
What would you like to say to other churches who are planning their reopening?
Be mindful to make sure your congregation doesn’t feel split by those who attend versus those who don’t.
Are you planning on any changes going forward?
There are several small things we need to work out on the online end. When we weren’t meeting everyone recorded their parts at home and we put the whole thing together prior to launching it “live.” This gave us the ability to have a much higher quality online experience than we had pre-COVID. The difficulty is trying to build/maintain that quality while at the same time not diminishing the in-person worship.
All Nations Community Church
Independent Asian American church in Bellevue, Washington
Reopening Service: June 28
Michel Lee (Senior Pastor)
Preparations
We conducted an all-church survey to assess the comfort level of meeting in-person.
Children and Youth
We offered drive-in church services only, with the option to sit outdoors if weather permits. We had considered offering children’s and youth services but there was a sharp increase in the number of new COVID-19 cases in Washington state, so we erred on the side of caution and delayed those plans. However, we encouraged parents to bring their kids. We also handed out Bible activity kits to families in their cars for children in elementary and below.
What was your attendance compared to pre-COVID days?
The survey had indicated that 55% of the congregation would come out to the reopening service; the actual attendance was 45%. My guess is that the daily surge in new COVID-19 cases in the week leading up the reopening frightened some people. I am expecting to hit or exceed 55% next weekend given how well the reopening went, the good stories that are spreading about what a blessing it was to see each other again, and how safe they felt being outdoors.
What was your reopening service like?
We kept the drive-in service simple. Service times were at 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM. The entire service lasted about an hour. We built in time to clean and disinfect in between services, as well as time for people to talk and reconnect. It was a sweet time of fellowship and most people took up the full hour to hang out. During the service a number of people came out of their cars to stand or sit on chairs. They were required to wear face masks at all times except when they were inside their cars. As the weather improves, we will have more outdoor seating available. We will need to adjust how we transmit audio since they will be out of their cars. Also, when the number of COVID-19 cases stabilize/decline, we will resume children’s and youth ministries indoors. We recorded the service and uploaded the video online later on Sunday.
What would you like to say to other churches who are planning their reopening?
Conduct an all-church reopening survey and get a sense of the congregation’s temperature on how comfortable they feel about resuming face-to-face worship services. Drive-in church is a great alternative to having church indoor—people feel safer outside in the open than inside in constricted spaces. Secondly, have a clear reopening plan and communicate it to the congregation so that they know what the roadmap looks like, including the sanitation and distancing practices that the church will follow. Lastly, do not rush it and do not make people feel guilty if they are not ready to join the in-person services.