Clear Lake AME Church to return to in-person

man giving praise (Photo by NATHAN MULLET on Unsplash)

A local church in Houston, Texas, will soon return to its in-person services starting in August. Clear Lake African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church announced returning to its worship facility to welcome its members face-to-face.

Clear Lake AME Church Announcement

According to an Eventbrite page, beginning Sunday, Aug. 1, the Clear Lake AME Church will finally start its in-person worship services. On its official Facebook page, the church currently holds events and services via online.

The page also shows a limited number of people in the background, with choir members and pastor as part of the service. There was no explanation on why the local church finally decided to open its in-person worship again.

But, it was said on the Eventbrite announcement that the church highly advises congregants to maintain the safety protocol inside the facility. Only 50 percent of the maximum capacity of the worship facility can also be entertained inside.

Compared to other churches, Clear Lake still enforces strict mask-wearing inside the facility. They will also implement rules in social distancing, as said on its website.

How to Join 1st In-Person Service?

Those interested in joining Clear Lake’s first in-person service in August can register through their Eventbrite page.

As said, the online registration will end on the day before the service at 10 am. Walk-in registration can also be an option for church members, but only 50 percent can be accommodated.

Those church members who will feel sick or diagnosed with COVID-19 on that day in August are highly advised not to attend the service anymore. Instead, the church said that they could watch the service via their Facebook page.

Clear Lake AME Church Information

The Clear Lake AME Church in Houston was first founded in 1992. According to its official website, the local church’s first service was held at the home of Rev. Brenda Payne and her family.

At the time, only nine adults and five children were present to witness the first local church service. Months later, Bishop John R. Bryant of AME church finally gave Reverend Payne her appointment to start the congregation.

In November of that same year, Reverend Payne held its first worship service in Webster, Texas. In 1993, the church finally had its new “home” in Houston, situated inside a 2,600-square feet land.

Since then, the Clear Lake church has been an active congregation in the AME church. Several pastors also took over the leadership after Reverend Payne.

COVID-19 Situation in Texas

Although the local Houston church finally decided to open its doors for in-person services, the city of Texas is currently gripping with the rising cases of COVID-19.

As the world gets targeted with another COVID variant called Omicron, Texas also faces terrible numbers of infected individuals. Texas Tribune said that the state currently re-records its all-time high.

New York Times also recorded that over 50,000 new cases were being reported in Texas since the last week of Jan. 7.

“The situation in Texas is that it probably won’t reach the peak [for cases] until the second half of January,” said Anass Bouchnita, a researcher at the University of Texas COVID-19 Modeling Consortium.