Faithful finding their way back to parish pews post-Covid
Featured image: Bishop Michael A. Saporito gives a homily at Saint Helen Parish in Westfield, N.J. in this undated photograph made before he was named an auxiliary bishop for Newark. He served as pastor of Saint Helen parish between 2011 to 2020. (Photo courtesy of Saint Helen Parish)
It’s not a stampede, but the faithful are finding their way back to the pews post-Covid. Amid lingering hesitancy, there is a palpable sense of excitement and renewal among the parishioners who have returned to in-person Mass in the Archdiocese of Newark.
“They are coming together with a new energy and a new vision,” said Father Aro Nathan, Pastor of Ss. Joseph & Michael Church in Union City, N.J. “We are praying together, singing together, and healing. Our faith is now strengthened after this virus. People are looking for some new hope. New Life. New beginning.”
Father Aro said weddings and Baptisms have also returned, and families are registering for in-person religious education classes and confirmations.
“People are longing for God,” he said.
Father Aro estimates Mass attendance at Ss. Joseph & Michael Church – a predominantly Hispanic community with bi-lingual, English, and Spanish-language Masses – has returned to about 75 percent of pre-pandemic levels. However, he and others caution summer is a difficult time to measure church attendance because of vacationing parishioners.
In another sign of thawing, the parish has cut back sharply on livestreaming because viewership has fallen. At one point during the pandemic, every Mass at Ss. Joseph & Michael Church was livestreamed. Now only one Mass is broadcast to the faithful.
“People are slowly starting to come back, but they take their time,” Father Aro said. “Some people are still hesitant. They are still waiting. They are not completely ready. They are mourning the loss of loved ones. So, still, they are at home. We call them. We comfort them. We receive them.”
Father Aro said parishioners have asked for a healing Mass, which is being planned.
At Sacred Heart Church in Haworth, reaction to returning to Mass has been mixed, said Father Bob Wolfee, the parish’s pastor. Several parishioners, who are elderly or who have ongoing health issues, returned once they were vaccinated. However, many families with children who are too young to be vaccinated have not returned yet, Father Bob said.
He estimates Mass attendance at Sacred Heart has averaged approximately 50 percent of pre-Covid attendance.
“For a very long time, we were averaging approximately 30 percent,” Father Bob said. “Then, starting in mid-March, we increased to approximately 40 percent and remained there until three weeks ago. Now that the summer has arrived, attendance will decrease because many of our parishioners are not here during the summer.”
When Sacred Heart ended six-feet spacing requirements in the pews, some parishioners expressed concerns and said they would still like to social distance. As a result, there is a section of the parish where social distancing is still in place.
“Anyone who sits in this section is required to wear a mask for the safety of those who sit near them,” Father Bob said.
The faithful continue to tune in for livestream Mass at Sacred Heart.
“Although more people are attending Mass in person, the livestreaming statistics have not decreased too much,” he said. “We will continue to livestream at least one Mass per weekend even if in-person attendance returns to the pre-pandemic level.”
Father Bob said parishioners are happy that more people are attending Mass. They are looking forward to the return of programs that were put on pause.
“This has been a most unique period in the Church’s history,” the pastor said. “We have changed how we operate in certain areas, and some of those changes will be permanent. We have learned that we must always be ready to change and adapt, as necessary.”
Bishop Michael A. Saporito, an auxiliary bishop for Newark and Episcopal Vicar for Bergen County, said he is thrilled churches are open, and people can gather again.
“There is an air of excitement,” he said. “I was at a pastor installation two weeks ago where the church was full with every seat taken, including an upper balcony. I got to the front, and it just took my breath away. I haven’t been in front of that many people in 16 months.”
While Bishop Saporito is a proponent of livestreaming and emphasizes the importance of an online parish presence – especially as a tool for evangelization – he said preaching to a camera is much different than making in-person connections.
“You see heads shaking,” he said. “You see people smile. You see people laugh, and then you can greet them afterward.”
Connecting with parishioners before and after Mass is vitally important, Bishop Saporito said.
“Those conversations – whether they were happy conversations, ‘pray for me’ conversations, actually praying with people – all those kinds of things were the human interaction that was missing,” he said. “It’s not just disappearing in a side sacristy or hitting the end button on your video stream. You’re running into people again.”
Faith is about people, Bishop Saporito said. It isn’t just a private matter.
“It isn’t about just going to church as individuals,” he said. “It’s building communities of faith. We call ourselves the body of Christ. And some of the human interactions that we have, some of the blessings of being in community is that other people share our story and share how faith impacts our story.”
He said isolation prevented many of the valuable interactions that are typical of living in a Catholic community.
“Our gospel message is not only taught, but it’s caught, and it has to be caught in community,” Bishop Saporito said.
