In-person church services resume in South Lake Tahoe

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that churches in California can once again open doors for in-person services, South Lake Tahoe places of worship have started to reopen.

The state's Blueprint Tier 1 prohibition of indoor worship services was challenged by three churches in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Prior to the challenge, a ban on indoor services led many churches to provide virtual services, while others defied orders and had indoor services even when the guidelines prohibited them.

The Court did rule against removing limits on capacity.

For counties in the widespread, or purple tier, churches can open indoors with masks, social distancing, cleaning protocols, and other modifications and activities must be limited to 25 percent of capacity. Moving to the red tier would keep the same guidance but going down to the yellow tier would expand occupancy to 50 percent.

Some of the South Lake Tahoe church information:

Hope Lutheran Church is open with 10:00 a.m. Sunday services. They will be social distancing, and following health and safety protocols. Ash Wednesday is on February 17 and Pastor Diana Turner will be doing "Ashes to Go" for the third consecutive year in front of Lake Tahoe Resort Hotel at Stateline from 11:00 a.m. to noon. The church is located at 930 Julie Lane, South Lake Tahoe. More information is available here https://www.hopeofthesierra.com/.

The Lake Tahoe Community Presbyterian Church has been closed since suffering major damage after a teenager playing with matches set it on fire in January 2019. The church is making plans to reopen as they've passed inspection and have the approval to reopen. Items will be moved in now that the Court ruling has been made. They have a lot of cleaning protocols to use when parishioners return as well as a new cleaning system to use in between church use. At this time they are shooting for the first Sunday in March. They are continuing virtual services. Visit https://www.hopeofthesierra.com/ for more information.

St. Theresa Catholic Church reopened the Sunday after the ruling. All services are now being held at the parish which is located at 1041 Lyons Avenue, South Lake Tahoe and also virtually. Find more information on their website https://www.tahoecatholic.com/.

Sierra Community Church has four services a day with no Sunday school. Their 1:00 p.m. service is ore children and family oriented to make up for their missing classes. They have always recorded services, making the transition to virtual and easy one once inside services were banned. For more information on services at 1165 Sierra Blvd, South Lake Tahoe and on line, visit https://sierra.church/.

St. John in the Wilderness Episcopal Church near Glenbrook will remain closed for the time being. Request a link to attend virtual services on their webpage https://www.stjohnsnv.org/.

First Baptist Church is open for both in-person and virtual services at the church located at 1053 Wildwood Avenue, South Lake Tahoe. They have an 11:00 a.m. service as well as virtual. Visit https://fbcslt.org/ for more info.