Churches in Hong Kong, Singapore and Canada have been forced to take a number of precautions in their ministry as a result of the recent outbreak of SARS.

Experts say that SARS – Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome – is spread through ‘close contact with an infected person’, meaning that churches have been forced to re-examine both aspects of public meetings and the opportunities for private meetings.

The Rev Andrew Chan, General Secretary of the Anglican Province of Hong Kong, told Southern Cross that while no official guidelines had been issued, there had been ‘very close contact among diocesan secretaries and heads of organisations’ to determine appropriate measures.

“Regular Sunday services and major celebrations, including Holy Week, [were] held as normal,” Mr Chan said. “However, individual parishes may modify the liturgy for practical reasons.”

Mr Chan said that many dioceses and parishes issued their own guidelines for Sunday services, such as encouraging all attenders to wear surgical masks, keeping all doors and windows open for ventilation, and providing plastic gloves for communicants during Communion.

Archbishop Peter Kwong of Hong Kong wrote a pastoral letter to all parishes, asking them to pray about the issue.

It is also being recommended that all furniture, buildings and books be sterilised, and churchgoers are being encouraged to avoid any physical contact with one another.

Similar precautions are being taken across Singapore, where reports indicate that church attendance has fallen dramatically since the outbreak of SARS.
Many churches took extra precautions following the death of a pastor who contracted the disease after visiting an infected patient. Simon Loh, 39, an Assemblies of God minister, became ill after visiting a hospital to pray for people with the disease.

In Toronto, Dean Douglas Stoute decided that St James’ Anglican Cathedral would serve bread only at Communion, with wine being served in a separate side chapel.

While many people recover from SARS and are discharged from hospital, officials in Hong Kong and elsewhere were powerless to stop the spread of the disease, and new cases have been appearing daily.

Mr Chan said that while most church members were not scared because of the disease, all were ‘aware of the hygienic condition’ and the precautions needed. He said that Christians are also hoping that the crisis may prove to be an opportunity for gospel ministry.

“God may transform this crisis into blessing as we see that in Hong Kong people have been more and more concerned about our family, our community, our health and our relationship with one another since the issue [first] happened,” he said.

“We will continue praying for the issue as well as for our spiritual revival, that we may overcome the epidemic and our spiritual lives may be strengthened by the love of God.”