The site is functioning now because I had to restore from a backup.
Helix was updated automatically by MySites.guru at 8:30 in the morning. I got a call from the client at noontime that the site was down.
After attempting the usual fixes, cache clearing, extension updating, etc., I checked the Chrome console and saw the 500 errors.
I thenk looked at the template files on the server, and noticed a Helix upgrade took place that morning.
I knew the server wasn't completely at fault, because I had no issues accessing the control panel. I could still administer the site, but could not display it.
Something is definitely wrong with the latest Helix Ultimate upgrade, at least for J3 users, and before you urge me to upgrade to J4 or J5, understand that I have been trying to do that for the past four months. Every attempt ends with a broken site.
My original post includes all the cgi errors in the hidden area. Here are some of them provided to me by my host.
bmpc.org [Fri Nov 03 14:32:50 2023] [error] [pid
31700] mod_cgi.c(174): [client 37.139.53.17:50934]
AH01215: on line 55 of
templates/shaper_helixultimate/scss/presets.scss:
/usr/home/brynmawrpres/public_html/bmpc2020-2/cgi-bin/php81.cgi
bmpc.org [Fri Nov 03 14:32:50 2023] [error] [pid
31700] mod_cgi.c(174): [client 37.139.53.17:50934]
AH01215: :
/usr/home/brynmawrpres/public_html/bmpc2020-2/cgi-bin/php81.cgi
bmpc.org [Fri Nov 03 14:32:56 2023] [error] [pid
31675] mod_cgi.c(174): [client 165.227.239.229:41222]
AH01215: DEPRECATION WARNING: Calling built-in
functions with a non-standard name is deprecated since
Scssphp 1.8.0 and will not work anymore in 2.0 (they
will be treated as CSS function calls instead).:
/usr/home/brynmawrpres/public_html/bmpc2020-2/cgi-bin/php81.cgi