Funerals, weddings, churches conform to social distancing

Gatherings for funerals, weddings and church services on Maui have been canceled or postponed or are moving forward with caution in response to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as mandates to maintain social distancing and to keep groups to 10 people or less, according to a survey of some churches, wedding planners and funeral homes.

Starting Tuesday, Mass has been canceled at all 66 Catholic parishes and 23 mission churches statewide that are part of the Diocese of Honolulu, until March 31. This includes 18 on Maui.

Funeral masses and services as well as weddings that already are scheduled to take place during this period may proceed as scheduled, but families are encouraged to limit the number of guests to meet social distancing standards.

"I am dispensing all the faithful from the obligation to attend Mass on Sundays during this period," the Rev. Larry Silva, bishop of Honolulu, said in a memo. "The situation has rapidly changed, however, and in light of the Centers for Disease Control's most recent strong recommendations for containment of this contagious virus, I am now offering these directives to be followed in all parishes, ethnic communities and oratories in the Diocese of Honolulu."

Communal Penance Services and other gatherings of people in churches and schools are canceled, as well as the Chrism Masses scheduled on Hawaii Island on Tuesday, Kauai on Thursday and Maui on March 31.

The Launch of 500 Years of Christianity in the Philippines Hawaii Celebration scheduled for April 4 is canceled and will be celebrated at a later date.

Pastors are doing all they can to have their churches open throughout the day for private prayer, Silva said in the memo.

Baptisms and other services scheduled during this time are to be postponed, and no other services are to be scheduled during this period, Silva said.

The Rev. Msgr. Terry Watanabe of St. Theresa Church in Kihei said that "we continue to pray for the sick, the dying and a quick end to this pandemic."

In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Kahului Hongwanji Buddhist Temple postponed its bazaar scheduled for Saturday until further notice. On Monday, the temple's Kyodan President Wayde Toyama also posted on the temple's website recommendations to prevent the spread of the virus.

One of Maui's larger congregations, King's Cathedral Maui, did not respond to a request for an interview this week.

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Weddings

The "big day" for many couples has been put on hold or postponed as a result of the coronavirus. A White Orchid Wedding, a wedding and event planning firm for Hawaii, has begun to receive phone calls from clients asking for changes and new dates.

"We are working very quickly to assist our clientele with cancellations and postponements," founder and President Carolee Higashino said Tuesday. "As we have no idea how long this may take, we have had to change the plans for over a dozen weddings (statewide) so far within the next three months."

Higashino said she is trying to stay positive, but "it's just the beginning." She said many wedding venues, like the Hui No'eau Visual Arts Center, have closed down due to health and safety concerns over the coronavirus, as well as restaurants. All classes, studios and workshops at the Hui are closed until further notice, its website said.

She anticipates that the trend will continue.

"We have sparse offerings for venues on Maui," she said. "We will be looking at long-term availability issues for rebooking clientele.

"This is seriously devastating financially to all of us, of course, and the suppliers, vendors, artists that rely on completed events," she added.

Under the circumstances and because White Orchid is looking at a three-month window, Higashino does not recommend clients booking anything sooner.

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Funeral and memorial services

As of Monday, all events and gatherings currently planned for Maui Memorial Park Nakamura Mortuary have either been adapted, postponed or canceled to meet social distancing standards, according to the website.

Chapels are being sanitized after each service, gathering or meeting, no matter the number of people in attendance.

In addition to taking extra health and safety precautions, funeral arrangements and pre-planning meetings can be conducted over the phone, email, or through video conferencing.

If families choose to move funeral services to a different date, the deceased will be kept in care as long as needed, the mortuary said.

For the locations that offer livestreaming, the mortuary will be providing that service for free to allow all members to be part of the funeral service if they can't be there in person.

Ballard Family Mortuary, the other large mortuary on Maui, did not respond to requests for interviews this week.

* Dakota Grossman can be reached at dgrossman@mauinews.com.