houses of worship

This will be the second Ash Wednesday during which the coronavirus is present in Massachusetts and churches are making some changes.

Dozens of COVID-19 clusters have developed in Massachusetts houses of worship since the pandemic began, leading to hundreds of confirmed cases of the highly infectious virus, Gov. Charlie Baker said Tuesday. Faith leaders have responded “admirably,” Baker said, implementing creative strategies such as remote or in-vehicle services to limit transmission of the disease. “But our data still found there are…

Houses of worship across Massachusetts opened Sunday for the first time in months, but parishoners found very different places than the ones they left in March. As the state moves cautiously to resume some activities amid the global coronavirus pandemic, some — though not all — churches reopened with restrictions in place on Sunday. Attendees were told to wear face…

Some churches and synagogues and churches in Massachusetts opted to reopen their doors for services this weekend, while others remained closed.

Restrictions for reopening houses of worship in Massachusetts include pre-packaged communion, maintaining physical distance, limiting attendance to 40% capacity, wearing a face covering and sanitizing between services.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker signed a bill Monday that gives places of worship more power to fight hate crimes.