LDS Church suspends all worship services worldwide due to coronavirus - Salt Lake Tribune

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To help combat the coronavirus pandemic, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is suspending public gatherings of church members worldwide “until further notice,” the Utah-based faith said in a statement Thursday.

That means canceling all Sunday services and midweek activities for more than 30,000 congregations across the globe, not just in the faith’s Beehive State headquarters.

The sweeping move extends beyond the recommendation of Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, who earlier in the day called for an end to all gatherings — including houses of worship — in his state of more than 100 people for at least two weeks.

Other religious leaders in the state responded accordingly — even as Christian churches prepare for Holy Week next month and their most sacred holiday, Easter.

“Catholic school facilities will close,” Solis said, “and instruction to students will be provided remotely.”

(Leah Hogsten | Tribune file photo) Students from The Madeleine Choir School receive their ashen signs of the cross during noon Mass on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020 at the Cathedral of the Madeleine.

The clergy’s “overarching concern was for the safety and well-being of the people,” Hayashi said. “We are devising ways to serve the spiritual needs of our people, especially those who are isolated.”

The cleric encouraged his priests to reach out to provide groceries to those in need, to continue telephone contact so no one feels abandoned, and to remain in the churches in case people came there to pray or meditate.

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“Our primary moral motivation,” Hayashi said, “is the primacy of love for the neighbor.”

The bishop himself has to “self-quarantine for two weeks because of a developing dry cough,” he said in a Facebook message. “I took the COVID-19 test, but results will not be back until tomorrow.”

As of Thursday, Hayashi said, he “feels fine and is not alarmed.”

The mandatory five daily prayers and Friday afternoon prayer will continue at the Utah Islamic Center in Sandy, said Imam Shuaib Din, but Muslims do not have to go to the mosque to do them.

Services at Christ United Methodist Church in east Salt Lake City will continue this weekend, with livestreaming available to attendees who prefer to do that, said the Rev. Rusty Butler, noting that a total of about 250 people participate in three services each Sunday. “It’s a fluid situation, and we will reevaluate for next week.”

The Rev. Oscar T. Moses, the new pastor at Salt Lake City’s Calvary Baptist Church, said the congregational leaders planned to meet Thursday evening to decide whether to cancel Sunday services, which attract more than 100 each week.

As for Utah’s predominant faith, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced in a news release that “beginning immediately, all public gatherings of church members are being temporarily suspended worldwide until further notice.”

That includes stake conferences, leadership conferences and other large gatherings; all public worship services, including sacrament meetings; and local congregational activities of branches, wards and regional stakes.

Local Latter-day Saint leaders, where possible, should meet “via technology,” the governing First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said. “Bishops should counsel with their stake president to determine how to make the sacrament [Communion] available at least once a month.”

“We encourage members in their ministering efforts to care for one another. We should follow the Savior’s example to bless and lift others,” they said in their release Thursday. “We bear our witness of the Lord’s love during this time of uncertainty. He will bless you to find joy as you do your best to live the gospel of Jesus Christ in every circumstance.”

The church also has been adding to its list of closed temples for weeks now. More than a dozen are shut down, but scores more remain open in Utah and around the world.

Unlike regular meetinghouses, these temples, which often involve more than 100 people in religious rituals that require hand touching, are seen as “Houses of the Lord,” places where devout Latter-day Saints take part in their faith’s most sacred ordinances, including eternal marriage.

Tribune editor David Noyce contributed to this story.

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