Religious services are a balm for the soul during trying times for the faithful, but the coronavirus has put the brakes on filled pews and loud hymns ringing from churches and synagogues each weekend.

Still, religious leaders have found ways to tend to their flocks in the face of the county's spiking COVID-19 cases.

The Rev. Peter de Vries, pastor of Old Union Presbyterian Church in Adams Township for 27 years, said the Presbyterian Church USA has allowed churches the autonomy to decide whether to have services during the pandemic.

The session, or governing board, of Old Union decided to continue having in-person worship using various safety precautions.

The Sunday church service is also available online through a livestream

De Vries said half of the congregation attends the in-person service and the other half watches the livestream.

Everyone attending the Sunday service is required to wear a mask. Every other pew is roped off, and members are asked to sit at opposite ends of the open pews from other members and their families.

Touchless sanitization stations have been added at each entrance, and doors and windows are propped open in the summer for increased ventilation.

While some denominations prohibit singing to prevent the spread of exhaled air, Old Union has allowed it because all members and clergy are wearing masks, de Vries said.

He started out preaching in a mask, but those who are hearing impaired had trouble understanding his words.

“So now I wear a shield,” he said.

The choir is not being used during services because they are unable to practice while sitting 6 feet away from one another, so special music and hand bells have been featured during recent services, de Vries said.

He also plans to hold Christmas services, pending the pandemic's virulence at that time.

De Vries said instead of one large service, Christmas will be divided into two services and is by reservation only so a seating chart can be created that allows the maximum number of families while meeting social distancing protocol.

“I am very grateful for our congregation, that everyone who attends is complying with wearing a face mask,” de Vries said. “That is the only reason we are able to continue having in-person worship.”

In-person worship was reinstated at Old Union in mid-May, when the state restrictions were eased.

At that time, de Vries held three weekend services with people assigned to each time slot.

In June, he returned to one service on Sunday and a livestream.

The two nurses on the church session have become the church's infection prevention team.

“They are our in-house experts when we want to figure something out,” de Vries said.

Attendance is taken at each in-person service so the congregation members can be notified if a worshiper attended services unaware they were positive for COVID-19.

De Vries has not had to use the list in the nearly six months that in-person services have been held.

He said no COVID-19 cases have originated from a Sunday service. Members now suffering from the virus were not attending church when they were symptomatic or pre-symptomatic, de Vries said.

From 35 to 40 people attend services in person each week, and about the same number watch the service's live stream, de Vries said.

The livestream allows worshipers from outside of the church's area to attend, which has delighted de Vries.

“A lot of people worship with us who never worshiped with us before,” he said. “We have someone from Brazil who is worshiping with us (on the livestream).”

De Vries also records video devotions each week to post on the church Facebook page at 2 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

The seven-or eight-minute clips contain a reflection on a passage from scripture as well as prayer.

“That's been well-received,” de Vries said. “I have an average of about 20 people each time.”

The longtime pastor regrets that the pandemic prevents him from visiting the faithful who live in care homes, especially since many feel so lonely and isolated.“All I can do is make phone calls or send cards,” de Vries said. “It's really frustrating.”He said while the pandemic has deeply affected his job, he must make the best of the hand the virus has dealt.“Our mission has changed,” de Vries said. “We are now doing mission and outreach in ways we didn't before.”He explained that in addition to instituting the livestream that had been talked about before the pandemic, the church has begun holding blood drives due to the need for blood during the pandemic.“Every time they get maxed out,” de Vries said of the participation level. “We're doing a blood drive on Black Friday and we have 56 spots. They're all filled.”A congregation member began making masks at the beginning of the pandemic, when face-coverings were not readily available.She has made more than 400 so far, which are placed into a bin for the taking. One woman picked up several of the masks to take to the elderly in Evans City.Church officials are now trying to devise a way to carry out their annual Lego Tournament, which is held each January.But the mission trips to disaster areas, where church members helped rebuild after a hurricane or other disaster, had to be canceled this year.“There are definitely things we can't do in reaching out to the community that we were able to do before, but we are looking for other opportunities,” de Vries said.He admits that serving his congregation during the pandemic is stressful when observed within the context of 32 years as a pastor.“It is much more exhausting,” de Vries said. “Pastoring during this pandemic, it's a challenge.”Synagogue stays virtualCantor Michal Gray-Shaffer of Congregation B'nai Abraham in Butler said the synagogue never went back to in-person services.“I know we might be alone in that, but my denomination of Reformed Judaism, all the clergy were counseled not to open up services,” Gray-Shaffer said.One reason is that almost all of the service is completed through singing, Gray-Shaffer said.She holds services on Friday nights via Zoom, which have proven to be successful.“We actually get more (worshipers) than we used to get in person,” Gray-Shaffer said.She figures that is because B'nai Abraham draws from a wide radius geographically, so members from Clarion, Slippery Rock, Grove City and other areas are easily able to attend Zoom services.Gray-Shaffer also holds Zoom classes each week.She checks up on those without computers via phone calls.Those she visited before the pandemic, like those in nursing homes, are now contacted via e-mail because many are too hearing impaired to have a telephone conversation.“It's really sad,” Gray-Shaffer said. “Some of my congregants are very lonely and feel isolated.”The fun videos with a Jewish theme that she initially disseminated to congregants have been scaled back because many have “Zoom fatigue,” she said.“We're just doing the best we can with what we've been given,” Gray-Shaffer said.She said the Butler Clergy Network is creating webinars on the Black Lives Matter movement in which conversations are held with black professionals with expertise in various subjects.The webinars can be viewed by searching “Butler Clergy Network” on Facebook,” Gray-Shaffer said.“I'm very, very proud of the clergy network,” she said.Like de Vries, Gray-Shaffer looks forward to a time when her congregation can get back to normal.“Let's pray for the vaccine,” she said. “We may still have to wear masks, but maybe we can worship together again.”