Sunday services resume as Albuquerque churches open to 25% capacity

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – For many, in-person Sunday church services were back in session across the Albuquerque area. The new health order now allows places of worship to operate at 25% capacity.

One by one, the members of Citizen Church in Albuquerque made their way inside for Sunday services, but things looking a little different. “Incredible to have everyone back in person, of course, following all CDC recommendations and everything, trying to be as safe as possible,” said Chris Cunningham, connection pastor of Citizen Church. “It’s something that we’ve really been looking forward to as soon as we heard there’s a certain percentage capacity in which we were able to do so.”

This was the first Sunday of in-person services since Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham lifted restrictions. RSVPs were taken, masks were on and everyone was spread out.

“Social distancing, of course, mandatory masks, everyone out here today it’s mandatory. We communicated that in advance through text message, through the web page, and also through the confirmation of their RSVP,” said Cunningham, who added that there were extra masks available for those who do not have one. “Once they make their way in to the auditorium, we’re doing every other row and we’re separating the RSVP groupings or individuals,whichever they RSVP’d their party might be, by three chairs, which is six feet.”

Across town, Legacy Church also resumed in-person services. They were also practicing social distancing as members of the congregation came in.

“As Christians, we’re called to assemble together. The live streaming is just something, a tool we can use, but it’s not what the body of Christ, as a whole, is called to do,” said Steve Smothermon, senior pastor at Legacy Church. “Our sanctuary is so big, we can still put a ton of people when you consider 25% and our foyer can hold a lot of people.”

They blocked off rows, spaced people apart, and cleaned the seats between services. Smothermon says they’re taking the changes day-by-day, but not forcing anything upon members.

“We’ve got hand sanitizer everywhere, we’re telling people, even in the same rows, to sit at least two seats apart,” said Smothermon. “We’re trying to do the best we can with people. You can’t make people do anything and I’m not that type of person anyway.”

Though the new order allows in-person services at a limit, Citizen and Legacy also continued to live stream their services. Others, like Calvary and Sagebrush, stuck to online-only this weekend. As state orders continue to change, the churches say they’ll continue to serve.

“We’re happy to be back, we’re happy to have people in our sanctuary, we’re happy to have people in the church,” said Smothermon. “We’re just going to continue to help people and serve this community the way we have this whole time.”

The updated public health order is in effect through May 31. After that, further reopenings could happen.