GREEN BAY, Wis. (NBC 26) — A few months after the pandemic began in 2020, some churches across the country returned to in-person service.
And it's stayed that way ever since. But Reverend Dan Schultz says it's time to stay home again.
"Until things calm down a little bit," he said.
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On Wednesday, the Wisconsin Council of Churches asked congregations to return to fully online or remote worship.
"The recommendation is to do that just fully for about four to six weeks," Schultz, the council's Community Health Program Director, said.
This recommendation comes as Wisconsinlogged almost 10,300 new Covid cases on Tuesday, the most ever in a single day.
"Emergency departments, urgent cares, our drive-thru testing site all have been very, very, very busy," Bellin Health Emergency Medicine Dr. Brad Burmeister said.
The council provides advice to over 2,000 Christian churches across the state. Schultz says most of them already have video streaming capabilities.
"About 80 percent of the churches that we serve offer a blend or a hybrid," he said.
Despite a virtual preference, Schultz says there are other things churches can do.
"One thing that we're hearing now is that stepping up the game on masks is very effective," he said.
The Wisconsin Council of Churches reports some congregations plan to follow the new recommendation. But Schultz isn't sure how others will respond.
We're not expecting that everyone's gonna drop everything and be online by Sunday," he said. "It takes some time."
Schultz tells NBC 26 churches work slowly and that this ask can be frustrating for some. But the council reports 94 percent of Christian churches it surveyed use a form of Covid mitigation.
The council is an association of Christian churches and organizations. It says it works together across differences. It has provided information and advice to churches during the Covid-19 pandemic.
