Washington National Cathedral shuts doors over COVID-19 rise in D.C., moves worship online
December 23, 2021 | District of Columbia
Worship at the Washington National Cathedral will move online after a spike in the District of Columbia’s COVID-19 infection rate, the Very Rev. Randolph Marshall Hollerith, the Episcopal congregation’s dean, said in an online message posted Wednesday.
Worshipers will be able to view services and other holiday events online via https://cathedral.org/. A publicist said in early December that the cathedral’s worship services have had more than 2.6 million views from around the world since March 15, 2020. Average Sunday attendance including Facebook and YouTube viewership is reported to be 33,720, a number usually associated with so-called megachurches.
“As one of the largest churches in America, we routinely welcome more than 15,000 people to celebrate the Christmas holiday,” Father Hollerith wrote. “However, given the spike in infections, I simply cannot justify gathering massive crowds as the public health situation worsens around us,” he added…. (Excerpts from the Washington Times)
