Easing of corona-restrictions means more access to churches
More people can now attend confirmations, funerals, weddings and church services. The final agreement on reopening from April 21st also includes a repreive of the space requirements for the Danish Church and other faith communities.
The spring confirmations students and wedding couples are now allowed to invite more guests to church, and more people can attend funerals and general services as well. The area requirement of 7.5 square meters per person, which has been in force since January, is now changed to 2 square meters when sitting and 4 square meters when standing up.
These are some of the new guidelines in the final agreement on an advanced reopening plan for the Danish Church and other faith communities. The agreement was reached at a so-called sector partnership meeting on Monday. Here, ministries, health authorities and representatives of the Danish Church and other faith communities determined the specific guidelines.
Last week, the Danish Church's corona task force appealed in an open letter to the Minister of Church Affairs Joy Mogensen for a reopening plan for the Danish Church, among other things with the hope that area requirements for the church be relaxed in line with the rest of society.
The distance requirement is still 2 meters if you are singing, but if a service or church service is performed without singing, only one meter between each person is required. This means that the guidelines now correspond to those that applied to churches in the autumn of 2020.
Child and youth activities
The confirmation students can now look forward to having their whole family in the church on the big day. They can also now meet indoors for confirmation lessons where other child and youth activities with participants up to 25 people can restart indoor activities once again in churches and faith communities. Only the choirs continue to wait, as the relaxation does not apply to activities where singing is the main activity. In those cases, the gatherings are still restricted to 10 people.
Adults are also only able to gather at a maximum of 10 at a time, for indoor activities in the church such as literature circles, discussion groups, lecture evenings and the like. But if they arrange to meet outdoors, the general assembly restriction of up to 50 people applies.
Singing and service time restrictions
Last week it became clear that singing is allowed back in churches. The recommendation for a maximum service duration of 30 minutes service ceased. This was stated in the reopening agreement that the political parties presented on Friday night.
Original article in Danish.
