\n<\/p>\n
Jeff Schoch was ready to be done with COVID-19 health safety regulations.<\/p>\n
Like most ministers in the US, the pastor of Crossroads Bible Church in San Jose, California, did his best to comply with the many pandemic rules imposed by state and local governments. But as soon as they were lifted, he wanted to put them all behind him. He quickly tore down the state-mandated signs about social distancing, hand washing, and masks.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got rid of every visual reminder in the church,\u201d Schoch told CT. \u201cI was anxious, personally, to make that a memory.\u201d<\/p>\n
Across the country, Protestant congregations are dealing with the long-term impacts of the pandemic. A new, extensive study<\/a> by Arbor Research Group and ChurchSalary, a ministry of Christianity Today, found that a lot of pastors are still in crisis<\/a>. Some furloughed staff members haven\u2019t gone back to work<\/a>. And even when attendance numbers have rebounded, there are still people missing<\/a> from many congregations. Christian leaders will likely be grappling with the fallout from COVID-19 for years to come.<\/p>\n But, surprisingly, state-level pandemic restrictions had no measurable, lasting impact on American churches. Even in places like San Jose\u2014where the county government imposed some of the strictest<\/a> rules in the country, the restrictions changed<\/a> frequently<\/a>, and authorities aggressively<\/a> went<\/a> after<\/a> churches they said failed to comply\u2014pastors like Schoch were able to just move on. The data doesn\u2019t show any adverse effects from the government regulations.<\/p>\n Eric Shieh, a research consultant for Arbor Research, said that surprised him.<\/p>\n \u201cYou would think that the restrictions made things tougher for churches. They didn\u2019t meet as much, and so you\u2019d be able to see the impact that had a few years later,\u201d he told CT. \u201cThere should be something there. But based on the data\u2014and we have a lot of data\u2014that\u2019s not what happened. Actually, there\u2019s no real correlation.\u201d<\/p>\n Shieh looked at the regulations in 50 states and ranked their severity. In 9 states, government restrictions were mild to nonexistent, and ended very quickly. In 23, there was a moderate level of regulation around masks, meeting sizes, and social distancing. In another 18, there were a lot of rules and some harsh punishments.<\/p>\n California, for example, limited the number of people who could attend a service indoors or outdoors, banned all singing and chanting, mandated masks, and required signs telling churchgoers to \u201cwash their hands with soap for at least 20 seconds, use hand sanitizer, and not touch their face.\u201d There were also regulations about cleaning between services\u2014including instructions about which chemicals to use\u2014and washing or throwing away everything that had been touched.<\/p>\n \u201cPlaces of worship must comply with all Cal\/OSHA standards,\u201d the state instructed<\/a> in July 2020, \u201cand be prepared to adhere to its guidance as well as guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). Additionally, places of worship must be prepared to alter their operations as those guidelines change.\u201d<\/p>\n