For communities of faith, Covid-19 has upended traditions and placed annual festivities at churches and synagogues on hold, forcing rabbis, pastors and priests to reimagine Christmas and Hanukkah celebrations and rethink their messages to the faithful.
"I think my basic message is that we don't have control," said David Thatcher, a priest at Holy Transfiguration of Christ Orthodox Cathedral. "We have certain delusions as Americans that we have control of all of this stuff. Any catastrophe, any cataclysmic event in our lives, and our hope is in our God."
With cases surging across the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued strict guidelines for gathering in houses of worship. At those still offering in-person services, instead of hundreds of people in sanctuaries, there are only dozens, and they must socially distance and wear masks....