IOWA, USA — For weeks now, churches have been unoccupied as pastors have been prohibited from holding church services in person.
Monday, Governor Reynolds lifted those restrictions starting May 1st.
But pastors told Local 5 they’re still left with a difficult decision.
Pastor Randy Lubbers from First United Presbyterian Church in Winterset said it'll still be some time before they open up.
"We’re definitely not going to be in the sanctuary this Sunday," Randy said.
The pews will stay empty for a bit longer, despite Gov. Reynolds giving the ok.
"What her decision did was say it’s ok, but it’s still up to us whether we do it or not. And so that makes hard decisions for pastors and for church leaders," Randy said.
Randy has some ideas on what social distancing services could look like, including placing bulletins 6-feet apart on pews and staggering seating.
"The front pew nobody sits there anyway. So we’ll block that pew off and then the second pew will be available and then close the third pew and then we divide into sections. It’s a fan shape," Randy said.
His church board will meet this week and make a collective decision on when it’s safe to reopen.
Down the road at First United Methodist, Pastor Mark Morehouse received guidance from higher up.
"We needed to hear from the bishop," Mark said.
Bishop Laurie Haller, the resident bishop of Iowa, encouraged all United Methodist churches statewide to wait until at least June 1st.
"After receiving Bishop Haller’s guidance, there was a sense of relief. A large number of our congregants are at-risk people myself included," Mark said.
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In Atlantic, Iowa, Pastor Ben Winford’s New Life Church is in Cass County where there’s only been one confirmed case of COVID-19.
But still, he’s going to wait a bit to consider what reopening safely would look like.
"We just want to make sure we do this the right way. Because there is a right way and there is a wrong way," Ben said. "We’re gonna take this next week and really sit down with some leadership here at the church and sa,y ok let’s get a plan of 1-2-3 or a-b-c."
At New Life, they’re considering holding several smaller church services instead of in one big group and temporarily closing the children’s ministry.
"Just because kids like to lick everything and so we don't want that to happen," Ben said.
But no matter when they reopen all three pastors said they’re thankful for discovering virtual services and the ability to reach out to more people than they ever thought possible.