FORT MYERS, Fla. — As the COVID-19 omicron variant continues to spread, one Fort Myers church is making changes to Sunday services to keep its congregation safe and healthy.
It may give you flashbacks to 2020 when this pandemic began.
The Fort Myers Congregational United Church of Christ said they will be holding their services virtually until they feel safe to gather in-person again.
“For the safety and all the families of our members, we knew we couldn’t continue meeting and sitting within inches of each other. It was a hard decision," Pastor David Bucey said.
A hard decision for Pastor Bucey who said church services will be held virtually until January 31 as they monitor COVID-19 case numbers.
“We thought long and hard about it. We stayed open one more Sunday then made the difficult decision to close down again," Pastor Bucey said.
But Pastor Bucey said it’s only the building that is closing its doors.
“That is our building where we do a lot of things. But, that’s not the church. The church is the people," Pastor Bucey sad.
Since this church is taking a step back, Fox 4 wanted to find out if people are also making changes. Fox 4 went to downtown Fort Myers to find out.
“You would certainly think we are back to where we were based on the activity level," a resident said.
“It’s getting worse rather than getting better," another resident said.
As we face another turn in the pandemic, Pastor Bucey is not losing faith saying he never dreamed that a closed building can still bringing people together.
“I am excited. Never have I ever been more excited than I am right now that a church can be relevant and it can be exciting. It can be alive and not necessarily up close and personal," Pastor Bucey said.
Fox 4 reached out other area churches to find out if they too will be holding their services online. Those churches said they will not be making any changes to the way they hold services.
