Yesterday, while millions of people watched the Super Bowl (of which I have zero interest), some people went back to attending church in person.

I picked up the newspaper from yesterday this morning (I’m one day behind in reading my local newspaper!), and one headline caught my eye. “Ruling cancels ban on indoor services.” The article was written by Daisy Nguyen, a journalist for the Associated Press, which may be viewed here. She reported that California Governor Gavin Newsome “issued revised guidelines for indoor church services after the Supreme Court lifted the state’s ban on indoor worship during the coronavirus pandemic, but left in place restrictions on singing and chanting.”

After the Supreme Court ruling, some California churches invited their parishioners to join them, using the hashtag #inpersonservice. “You can go to your house of worship, as of now! You can go back to church, we’re excited about that,” Pastor Art Hodges of the South Bay United Pentecostal Church said.

Of course, no singing or chanting is allowed. And for me, music is such an integral part of the service, that it “just wouldn’t seem like real church” if there were no singing allowed.

For the last seven months, I have been the Organist of Nuuanu Congregational Church, yet I have not stepped in the church since August 2nd, when in-person services were suspended in favor of a pre-recorded service online.

I did play one service in August, where there were two hymns that I played, and the congregation was asked not to sing, but to reflect on the words which were projected on the wall overhead.

Since August 2nd, I have recorded all the music for the service on the Beckerath organ at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu (where I had the privilege of serving for 35 years). These videos I record on my iPhone then I send the iCloud links to Russell Ishida, their Director of Music, who compiles all the videos then releases them to the congregation weekly.

The church’s pastor, Jeannie Thompson, said she is hoping that we’ll be able to resume in-person services maybe by Easter (?) but of course, no one can predict the timeline of this pandemic and the rate of vaccinations that will bring the level of infections and deaths down to a safe level.

In the meantime, they say outdoors is the safest. So take a look at this photo which shows students at Michigan Technological University where they built an ice chapel to celebrate Mass outdoors.

The person who posted the photo in the Facebook Organists group asked people to suggest what hymns you could sing in an ice chapel like this, provided you had a means to accompany the congregation with some kind of musical instrument. Here were the suggestions (many of them puns or variations of the original titles!)

From Greenland’s Icy Mountains
In the bleak midwinter
Twas in the moon of wintertide
The snow lay on the ground
See amid the winter’s snow
I the Lord of snow and rain
I come to the igloo alone
Who are these hosts arrayed in white
Praise my ice hole king of heaven
Wade in the frozen water
All snow the powder of Jesus Name
Come down, o temperature divine
Ice to the Lord, the almighty and king of creation
Let it snow, let it snow
God has frozen me
Holy, holy, holy, Lord it is freezing
The First Snowell
He’s got the Cold World in his hands
Keep your ice upon Jesus
Good King Wenceslas
Angels we have heard on ice
Amazing ice, how sweet the sound
I snow that my Redeemer liveth
Slide on, slide on in majesty
Heat this bread
Ice surrender all
There’s no business like snow business
Cold December flies away
Baby, it’s cold outside!
The ice of all wait upon thee
Eternal Father, warm to save
Snow praise ye the Lord
Whiter than snow (video below — the Rs, eek!)

Many are cold but few are frozen!