HALES CORNERS, Wis.— Despite COVID-19, hundreds of people got together at the Hales Corners Lutheran Church for the 11 a.m. Christmas Eve church service. 

“It’s just what you do," said Daniel Scheller of Hellenville. "You come to church for Christmas.”

The church has been working hard to make sure the seven Christmas Eve services and the one service on Christmas Day are safe for everyone who attends. 

“We definitely want people who come here to know that they can come here and worship, lay some burdens down for a little while, be joyful and rejuvenated," said Jill Felch, chief operating officer at Hales Corners Lutheran Church. "We want people to know that we’ve thought through all of the safety precautions and procedures.”

Online reservations are required, and you have to wear a mask inside the church. If you forget a mask, they have some at the door. 

Every other pew is blocked off from seating, and churchgoers are asked to only sit with family and groups they arrived with, in the pews marked with green tape. 

There are hand sanitizer and gloves available at the door; plus there are changes to communion. The wafers and wine are all individually packaged and handed out when you arrive. 

“We try to do as many things as we can no-touch," Felch said. "So, before where people would get up and go to the front and do communion, there’s a lot of bodies crossing and there’s a lot of movement, we try to eliminate that by handing things out at the door.”

Hales Corners Lutheran Church also sprays a disinfectant after every service. 

“It’s just a super version of like a Lysol, but it’s water-based, it’s less toxic than direct pressure with Lysol," said Keith Neff, the buildings and grounds supervisor at Hales Corners Lutheran Church. 

Neff said it takes just 30 seconds to disinfect the church once it's sprayed. 

“Once it works on the surface, it does its work from there," Neff said. "It’s an aerosol base, so with our ventilation here, it helps move that so that’s why we don’t have to do the whole facility. It is able to move by itself.”

With all of the precautions in place, Todd Lammert of New Berlin said he and his family felt safe. 

“Extremely safe," Lammert said. "It was very, they did a very good job at keeping everything under control. It was very well done.”