Updated April 19.
Two years after moving to online pandemic offerings, most Vermont spiritual communities are returning to in-person gatherings this Easter, Passover and Ramadan.
“Please be aware that we cannot declare an ‘All Clear,’” said a recent statement from the Covid Response Team of the state Episcopal Diocese, which nonetheless is joining other Christians, Jews and Muslims in returning to their buildings while retaining internet ties.
Gov. Phil Scott, originally prohibiting large gatherings at the start of the pandemic, has since lifted meeting and mask recommendations, though municipalities may continue to retain local mandates through April 30.
The Vermont Roman Catholic Diocese, the state’s largest religious denomination with roughly 110,000 members in 68 parishes, was the first in the state to resume in-person services with masks and physical distancing required. However, when Bishop Christopher Coyne presides over Easter Mass on Sunday, he will do so under recently relaxed church protocols making masks optional for everyone.
“This is subject to change in the event the Covid situation worsens,” the new rules noted.
The Vermont Conference of the United Church of Christ, the state’s second-largest denomination with 14,000 members in 135 locations, and the Green Mountain District of the United Methodist Church, the third-largest denomination with 8,200 members in 115 congregations, promoted online services last Easter. This spring, they’ve eliminated Covid warning links on their websites.
The Episcopal Church in Vermont, with 5,700 members in 47 congregations, is set to hold its first in-person holiday services since 2019.
“While we have reached a level where risks are reduced for many, they are not reduced for all, and Covid-19 is still present,” the Episcopal diocese’s Covid Response Team wrote in a call for continued online options. “Furthermore, our situation in Vermont as a whole can change in the future, and we may again need to institute public health safety measures.”
American Baptist Churches of Vermont, with about 6,000 members in some 75 congregations, is an association of autonomous parishes that make individual rather than regional plans. Most will be back in their buildings this Easter, local listings show.
Christians are not the only religious community observing a major holiday this month. Vermont Jews are marking Passover from Friday through April 23 by retelling the Exodus story of how the Israelites saw a deadly plague miraculously “pass over” them some three millennia ago, helping lead to their emancipation.
The conduit organization Jewish Communities of Vermont, representing a Green Mountain State population estimated as high as 25,000, is offering schedules of both in-person and online programs.
Muslims at the Islamic Society of Vermont are marking the holy month of Ramadan by performing good deeds and praying and fasting from dawn to sunset — all with help from in-person and online offerings posted on the society’s Facebook page.
Most Buddhist sanghas are operating with similar hybrid models. The Vermont Zen Center of Shelburne, for example, will celebrate the Buddha’s birthday in person and online — although not until May 29.
“According to tradition, the Buddha was born on April 8,” the center stated on its website. “However, for purely practical reasons we celebrate this event when the weather is warmer and we can be outdoors.”
