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St. Petersburg church waiting for the right moment to hold in-person services again

Gov. Ron DeSantis said houses of worship could stay open as long as social distancing was enforced, but churches felt it was too risky.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Houses of worship are considered an essential business and have been able to hold in-person services since April 1, but not all churches were wanting to keep congregations going.

"We closed as soon as the CDC was recommending that large gatherings of people stopped so we have been worshiping online via Facebook and Vimeo," Pastor Andy Oliver said.

Even with hand sanitizer at the front door, Allendale United Methodist Church in St. Petersburg stopped meeting almost two months ago.

"This is a temporary measure for us to practice social distancing so that we can love our neighbors," Oliver said.

The pastor maintains the safety of anyone who enters the church doors is his top priority.

"As a pastor, I have a huge responsibility to make sure that not only am I protecting those that come on my property in the congregation but then everyone that they go home to. Everyone that they associate with," Oliver said.

That's why the church won't hold any in-person services any time soon. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis included houses of worship in his list of essential businesses. He said they could stay open as long as social distancing was enforced. 

But Oliver says too much was at risk.

"We've decided already as a church not even considering to reopen until later in June. When we do get back together I think we'll be requiring masks and limiting things even like singing that can make the environment more dangerous," Oliver said.

They'll also put up signs asking anyone who has coronavirus symptoms to stay home. The pastor admits things will never fully get back to normal. He hopes churchgoers will keep the community's best interest in mind.

"I think that when we get a vaccine we will be able to see more normalcy. But we're even questioning if we want to go back to normal to a time when things weren't that great for a lot of people so we're using this as a time to reevaluate our practices and be a different type of church into the future," Oliver said.

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