Protection in the pews: Central Texas church uses buttons, bracelets to combat COVID-19

GATESVILLE, Texas (KWTX) - People often ‘wear their Sunday best’ to church, but who knew what you wear to places of worship during the COVID-19 pandemic could potentially save lives?

A Central Texas church is testing out a new, accessory-based system to keep its pews full...and virus-free.

"Our children's minister saw the idea online and thought it would be a good idea for us to replicate," said Tim Crosby, Pastor at Trinity Baptist Church in Gatesville.

On Sunday, the church started administering color-coded bracelets and buttons to members based on their social-distancing preferences.

"We felt that using the red, yellow and green buttons and bracelets would especially help the children, who might have a little bit of confusion, understand who should be hugged and who shouldn't be hugged and just make things simpler for them," said Crosby. "It worked pretty well."

To eliminate confusion and make people feel safer while attending services during the pandemic, the church provided wristbands and buttons for people to wear which identify their level of comfort making contact with others.

Green is for "huggers", yellow is for "elbow bumpers" and red is for "wavers".

"A lot of people did utilize them, and it was a effective way of communicating, in a simple way, our preference, without having to verbalize it," said Crosby.

The Pastor said he chose yellow but many opted for the red wristbands and buttons, especially those with health conditions which may put them at higher risk.

“We do plan to use the red, yellow and green buttons and bands again, and we would recommend other churches to try them,” said Crosby. “We think they were effective in what we hope they would accomplish, especially with children.”

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