[Visiting the COVID-19 Frontline] Empty Churches Ahead of Christmas... A Silent Night Approaches

9 out of 12 Places Hold Non-Face-to-Face Worship
Churches Open but Empty
Concerns Over 'Worship Under 20 People' Safety

An empty sanctuary of a large church that has been conducting fully online services since the 12th.

[Asia Economy Reporters Byungseon Gong, Juni Park] "This Christmas, let's keep Jesus in our hearts only."

At 11 a.m. on the 20th, Sunday worship was held at Church A in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul. Although Christmas was only five days away, the atmosphere was not as lively as before. Inside the sanctuary, there were only the pastor and eight church members.

Despite Christmas being the biggest event in Protestantism, people are not gathering at churches. In the past week alone, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases exceeded 1,000 five times, leading churches to adopt a cautious stance. Especially in the metropolitan area, cluster infections have occurred centered around some churches, resulting in strengthened quarantine monitoring of religious facilities.

◆Most Churches Switch to 'Non-Face-to-Face Worship' = Among seven churches visited in Dongdaemun-gu that day, five were conducting non-face-to-face worship services, and among five churches in Gangdong-gu, four were doing the same. Churches holding only non-face-to-face worship allowed only the pastor and video recording assistants inside. When face-to-face worship was held concurrently, only up to 20 believers attended in accordance with the social distancing level 2.5 quarantine rules. Some churches even announced they would not hold any worship services, including non-face-to-face ones, until the end of December to fully comply with government policies.

A church sanctuary where in-person worship was held. With the number of participants in in-person worship limited to 20, only a small number attended the service.

M Church in Gangdong-gu, with about 60,000 believers, has been conducting fully online worship since the 12th. On that day, only the pastor, church officials, and about ten believers came and went, while the large sanctuary that can seat about 7,000 was empty. A representative of M Church said, "Protecting faith is important, but the lives of believers are more important," adding, "We are strictly following the guidelines set by the government."

Churches that held face-to-face worship were equally quiet. Although attendance was limited to 20 people, fewer than 20 showed up. At Church A in Dongdaemun-gu, eight believers came for face-to-face worship. After temperature checks and hand sanitization on the first floor, they went up to the second-floor sanctuary without exchanging a word.

◆Concerns Over 'Worship Under 20 People' = However, some express concerns that the order limiting gatherings at religious facilities to 'under 20 people' may not be reassuring. Taeho Han (60, male, pseudonym), who runs a neighborhood supermarket near Church A, said, "If they follow the quarantine rules, I have nothing to say, but I still think gathering in groups makes people vulnerable to COVID-19 infection," expressing his worries.

Due to a flood of complaints from residents, local governments have conducted direct inspections of churches. A Gangdong-gu official who inspected churches for quarantine compliance that day said, "After checking 10 reported churches today, none violated the quarantine rules."

Inside a church where the footsteps of congregants have become sparse due to COVID-19, even though Christmas is approaching

In this atmosphere, churches are expected to remain quiet on Christmas Day and afterward. A representative of Church A explained, "Since the number of COVID-19 cases is rapidly increasing, we do not plan to hold a separate worship service on Christmas Day," adding, "If the trend continues, we might not hold the year-end New Year's Eve worship service (at midnight on December 31) at all."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.