NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Several mid-state churches say they are temporarily canceling live services because of concerns about spreading COVID-19.
Both Cross Point Church and Long Hollow Baptist Church posted on social media on Thursday, saying live services will be closed because of the virus. The churches are instead urging members to watch live broadcasts of the services online.
"Due to the risks that are associated with large gatherings especially gatherings our size, for the next two weeks we've decided to move our large weekend gatherings across all of our campuses to an online experience," A video from Cross Point Church said.
The Centers for Disease Control has discouraged large gatherings of people as the number of COVID-19 cases has spread. On Thursday, the number of confirmed cases in Tennessee doubled to 18.
Other churches, like Brentwood Baptist Church, are keeping their services open, but administrators said they are closely monitoring the situation and are making changes.
"We’re no longer going to pass the offering plates, were providing giving stations for folks outside the doors to drop their offerings in," Brentwood Baptist Church's Steve Smith said. "We've doubled up on hand sanitizer availability, we’re actually not even passing out bulletins anymore, we’re just going to let folks pick up their bulletins as well."
"They’re not only awkward, they're unprecedented things that were having to do in the normal course of our worship," Smith added.
