I’m filled with gratitude, with thankfulness, that our church continues — even if it has to be creative — to find a way to be together. – Matt Clark
In a time when physical closeness is as dangerous as it is comforting, area churches have been forced to adapt traditional worship and acts of service for the sake of safety.
Pastor Matt Reeves, of Christ Presbyterian Church in Chester Township, described how the novel coronavirus pandemic prevents him from physically comforting individuals battling loneliness or hospitalization.
“My first inclination is to want to go and be physically present, but that’s not something that we can do,” Reeves said.
But despite the challenge of overcoming social isolation, area churches continue to foster community and connectedness through virtual worship services.
Adapting to COVID-19
While Gov. Mike DeWine did not ban worship services, he did advise against large gatherings as they conflict with social distancing recommendations. Churches heeded the governor’s warning and, around the time the statewide stay-at-home order was put in place, moved services online.
While previously providing some online content, Fellowship Bible Church in Bainbridge Township now streams an entirely online worship service, which has drawn a larger congregation than in-person services, said Pastor Matt Clark.
Between archived and live streamed access, Clark said services can have over 2,500 views with individuals watching from all over the world — including England, Kenya and Germany.
“I’m filled with gratitude, with thankfulness, that our church continues — even if it has to be creative — to find a way to be together,” Clark said.
While many churches held virtual Easter and Mother’s Day services, Fellowship Bible Church leaders came up with a way for individuals to be physically present at worship.
“Our people love to get together. We can’t. We need people to stay in their cars. Okay… hmm… how about a drive-in?” Clark said, describing the thought process behind the idea.
The drive-in services were held in the Fellowship Bible Church parking lot. Individuals could register for one of two morning services. For Mother’s Day, Clark said over 200 cars were registered between the two services with 600 people in attendance.
Cars were parked six feet apart and the congregation did not leave their cars for any part of the service. Clark said individuals could roll down their windows to listen to the service or access the FM radio transmission through their cars.
Worship volunteers, wearing masks and gloves, passed out around 250 carnations to the mothers in the audience. Clark said local students came up with the phrases written on tags for the carnations, such as, “I love mom because she smells like fresh baked cookies” or “I love mom because she loves me even when I’m very crabby.”
About 25 dogs were in attendance, as well, and volunteers passed out milk bones for them.
For some churches, the move to utilizing online streaming services was logical as they had already been recording and streaming the message portion of the service. Christ Presbyterian Church had considered creating online worship content prior to the coronavirus pandemic, but COVID-19 was the impetus for beginning to offer those services.
Reeves said the church will likely continue with an online option after the pandemic. However, he also said some individuals have been left out of the online service due to lack of access.
“I know there are people that are diehard worship attenders that aren’t taking in worship together with others,” Reeves said.
Pastor Paul Radobenko, of Huntsburg Baptist Church, has included other members of the congregation in the service with prerecorded videos or by filming individuals inside the church.
“(Attendees) appreciate the music,” he said. “They appreciate the message, but they love seeing the people.”
Pastor Tom Snode, Chardon United Methodist Church, said while the congregation does not prefer virtual services, the option has been appreciated.
“As you can imagine, no one likes it a lot. Some people, though, find it convenient for the obvious reasons,” Snode said. “They’re thankful they’re able to worship and do that at home.”
Other church gatherings, such as youth ministries, have also been adapted for online. Snode said the director of youth ministries at Chardon United Methodist Church hosts video calls for the youth group on Sunday mornings.
“All of this is learning on the fly, in a way, to do this. It’s not the same as being in the same room, but I think we’ve adapted as well as possible,” Snode said.
Going Beyond Worship
In addition to online services, local churches have responded to other county needs.
Each church has had members donate masks, some being available for individuals in the congregation and others made and donated to first responders and medical workers.
At Christ Presbyterian Church, Reeves said masks can be picked up and dropped off at the church vestibule, but not inside the building.
Clark said Fellowship’s mask-making team has sewn over 600 masks, including some with surgical grade material thanks to a member’s donation.
Snode said Red Bag Sunday, which takes place on the first Sunday of each month, has had a good response despite being done in a nontraditional way.
Congregation members have been bringing bags with nonperishable food items to the church and dropping them off throughout the week to accommodate social distancing and cleaning necessities.
“I think really, if anything, the pandemic spurred some people to give because they knew there was a potential, with the economic impact in the community, there might be some people that needed food that hadn’t previously,” Snode said.
Food collected from Red Bag Sunday is given to a local pantry in Chardon.
Reeves has seen similar generosity at Christ Presbyterian Church’s food pantry.
“There was a guy that just walked up to our pantry window that we’re serving out of and handed over an envelope with six $100 bills,” Reeves said.
According to Reeves, the man had received his stimulus check and wanted to donate some of the money he did not need.
“The giving has continued. It’s really been remarkable to see how others want to join in the effort to take care of each other,” Reeves said.
Fellowship Bible Church has given over 250 meals to those in need, Clark said. The church collected meal necessities and practical items, like laundry detergent, toilet paper and hand sanitizer, and created boxes full of meals.
The boxes were either left in the church vestibule for pick up or dropped off to individuals.
Fellowship Bible Church has also donated gift cards to all first responders in Bainbridge. Clark said the church has a close relationship with the Bainbridge Township Police Department, since officers’ direct traffic on Sundays and one officer remains in the building during services.
Leaders at Fellowship Bible Church work together as a team to meet community needs, Clark said.
“A lot of times, there’s already a solution. We just haven’t thought about it long enough. Usually, when we see the need, if we just spend some time, it is interesting how God always provides a way to get creative and be able to respond,” Clark said.
Reopening Mindfully
As coronavirus-related restrictions begin to lift in Ohio, Snode said Chardon United Methodist Church is beginning to plan how to reopen.
They have a task group that will decide when the church should reopen, which Snode hopes will be in July or August, as well as what procedures need to be in place to open safely.
Huntsburg Baptist Church reopened for service May 24.
When asked about opening on that day, Radobenko said, “I guess the better question would be, why not? We want to gather together and worship together. That’s the biblical mandate. That’s why we do what we do. We feel like we’ve mitigated much of the risk, not all of the risk. We’ve informed our church folk of the risk and they get to make the choice to join with us or stay home.”
Radobenko said the church will have a one-way traffic flow, provide hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes, encourage masks to be worn, rope off every other row of pews and have two services for individuals to adequately social distance.
Keeping the Faith
The coronavirus pandemic has made the churches reevaluate the best way to serve their missions, as well as the pastors to reassess their relationships with faith.
For Reeves, he has tried to find peace with a rollercoaster of emotions throughout the pandemic. Somedays, he has felt positive and other days, heavy.
“I think for me, recognizing the importance of returning to God as present with me in all that’s going on and accepting self-compassion — accepting what’s happening with me — as okay,” Reeves said. “If I feel heavy, that’s okay. I can feel heavy in God’s presence. If I’m feeling grateful, that’s great, and let me be grateful in God’s presence.”
As for Radobenko, his faith has remained strong.
“My faith has not been shook by this at all. I just see that’s part of the world we live in. We’re just trying to deal with it as best we can,” he said.
Snode said he constantly reminds himself of the words of Jesus Christ, “Do not be afraid.”
“I’ve tried to echo that and remind myself that I do not need to be afraid. I can be wise, I can be cautious, but to kinda walk confidently without fear has been important for me,” Snode said.
Clark said at the beginning of 2020, Fellowship Bible Church decided their mission would be “live for more.”
“More faith, more family, more service,” Clark said. “Those are the three components that make us Fellowship.”
Clark said with the coronavirus pandemic, it might seem difficult to understand how to live more, but it has made him realize what is truly important in life.
“My family means everything to me. My faith means more to me now than it did before. The sense of service is so important,” Clark said.
