I admire you. We’re trying to find a diplomatic way to refuse to shake hands in church. We know we got pneumonia one year that way, and this year intestinal flu. It’s just not worth it.
I’d just say....I don’t want to give YOU anything....I’ve been exposed to the flu, a cold, blah, blah, blah....course I once said I “was sick” to a woman who wanted to shake my hand...she said...”SO AM I!” That was after the service where the greeter at my Mother’s church at Christmas Eve service was coughing and slobbering over everyone as they came in the door...my elderly Mom and her husband got REALLY sick. A local contractor we happened to talk with a couple months ago told us he tells his church members he does NOT shake hands during winter.