I am not a hand grabber either and wouldn’t mind things stay more formal. If I feel the “need” to hug someone, I’ll do so OUTSIDE of church!
Where you're just as likely to spread or contract an infection as you are IN church. Unless everyone is going to refuse to touch another person, refuse to shake hands, refuse to receive anything from the hand of another person, disinfect everything before they touch it, etc. ALL DAY EVERY DAY, these guidelines (other than not sharing a cup) mean very little.
Whether they're positive or negative from a liturgical standpoint is a different question entirely.
>>Where you’re just as likely to spread or contract an infection as you are IN church.<<
I think NewCenturions’ point is, one “choses” whom one hugs outside the church. Not just the person standing next to you.
Yes there is a risk hugging your friends, but MY friends are germ phobic and won’t be hugging anyone.
If I feel the “need” to hug someone, I’ll do so OUTSIDE of church!
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Amen! And I suspect that, like me, you reserve your hugs for those who are your loved ones.