While taking steps to resume in-person services
Representatives from several local churches plan to stick with online worship or parking lot services for now following a recent decision from Gov. Brian Kemp that allows limited in-person services to resume.
The April 20 statement from Kemp reads: “For places of worship, holding in-person services is allowed, but under Phase One guidelines, it must be done in accordance with strict social distancing protocols. I urge faith leaders to continue to help us in this effort and keep their congregations safe by heeding the advice of public health officials. Of course, online, call-in, or drive-in services remain good options for religious institutions.”
Dan Rosser, pastor at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, said not much has changed between shelter-in-place guidelines and the new phase one reopening guidelines. Kemp stated the new guidelines call for “adherence to minimum basic operations, social distancing and regular sanitation.”
“It’s still recommended that groups not be larger than 10, but can be up to 50 with social distancing,” Rosser added. “I was on a Zoom session yesterday with probably 500 pastors (of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board) and one of the governor’s staff members. The expectation is we should not go back to full in-person services at this time. Many of the pastors in that discussion are looking to mid-May, possibly the 17th, to start some form of in-person services. I don’t anticipate starting up in-person meetings before mid-May for us, either. Social distancing will still be a part of that moving forward, possibly with masks and definitely having hand sanitizer available and no hand shaking or hugging of any sort. There are a number of logistical issues to consider.”
Rosser said Pleasant Grove will continue to offer church services online.
“We continue to use Facebook live for our service format. They are posted to our website, as well. We’ve been seeing a good amount of traffic during our live broadcast, anywhere from 80-100. We know some of those have multiple folks watching. Our people have really appreciated it,” he added.
“We also continue to do a daily devotion Monday-Friday and that’s been very well received. Our Easter service went well and reached over 1,550 people according to Facebook. We plan on getting the proper equipment to continue having our service live online after this is over. We’ve also postponed some events like a ribbon cutting for our new pavilion and will reschedule once we’re past all of this.”
Josh Moyers, a minister at Ellijay First Baptist Church, said First Baptist has put together a team of professionals that is acting as a “safety advisory team.”
“They are working through what this will look like for us as a church. Currently, we plan to continue online services with hope to meet in person the last Sunday of May. This could change, but it’s the plan for right now,” he added.
Moyers said First Baptist will also continue to offer online options.
“We have a 6 p.m. prayer meeting on Wednesday night that’s on Facebook as well as our church website. We have an 11 a.m. service Sunday morning on Facebook, YouTube and our church website. We also show our service at 9:30 a.m. Sunday morning on ETC3,” he added.
First Baptist hasn’t held any drive-in services yet, but that type of service, in which congregation members remain in their cars, may lead toward reestablishing in-person gatherings, Moyers noted.
“We spoke with the city about the possibility of having drive-through church, but we’ve went away from that idea for the time being. It is a possibility in the near future as we look at starting to meet back together. (It) might be the first step in worshiping together again,” he said.
Drive-in services are going well at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, noted the Rev. Victor Morgan, of the Blue Ridge church.
“The drive-in congregation seems to be growing. Four weeks ago, we started out with 22. That number has increased every week,” Morgan said. “On Easter Day, we had over 40 cars in the drive-in congregation. Everyone who contacted me later in the week said they really enjoyed participating in this fashion.”
The number of congregation members viewing St. Luke’s services via Facebook and YouTube has also increased in a short time, he added.
“Last week, around 1,200 checked in. (That’s) many times the number who would’ve been at a service in an ordinary time,” Morgan said. “Throughout this, there has been a wonderful spirit. People in the congregation have been reaching out and encouraging one another. In many ways, it’s been a more spiritual Lent and Easter. Forced to stay in, some have used this opportunity for reading the Bible and reflecting. One family told me that they’ve been attending three services online since all this began.”
Morgan noted that St. Luke’s will continue to stream its Sunday services on Facebook. Those services will also be posted to the church’s website.
Judy Fabiniak, parish administrative assistant at Ellijay Good Samaritan Catholic Church, said the downtown Ellijay church has been following decisions by the Archdiocese of Atlanta as to when in-person services will resume.
“We are just one church in the Archdiocese of Atlanta, and they, along with the Diocese of Savannah, have decided that the closures will continue through May,” she said.
In the meantime, Ellijay Good Samaritan will continue airing daily mass that Father Carlos Vargas hosts from a small chapel the priest has built inside his home. Those masses are live-streamed on the church’s Facebook page each day at 7 p.m. in English and 8 p.m. in Spanish. Sunday mass is broadcast at 11 a.m. in English and 1 p.m. in Spanish, Fabiniak said.
“Our numbers continue to grow. Father Vargas had over 700 people watching the live-stream on Easter,” she added. “We continue to pray for our community, for our country, for the world and for all those who’ve been affected, as well as for those who continue to care for them.”
The Rev. Mike Lowery, of Cartecay United Methodist Church, said CUMC is following district recommendations requesting that all United Methodist Churches continue holding alternative worship services till May 13.
“At least that’s the current date,” he said. “Until then, we will continue to offer our 10:30 a.m. Sunday worship live-stream and our midweek Wednesday 6 p.m. gathering at CUMC.live/now,” he said. “We are also using Zoom for church meetings and Sunday school classes with new security enhancements enabled. Our drive-in Easter sunrise service went very well and we now have an online giving solution, which can be accessed at CUMC.live/give.”
The church’s clergy will be cautious in the steps it takes to eventually resume holding full gatherings, Lowery noted.
“We are looking at ways to social distance while still worshiping together. We are considering moving our largest Sunday school class into the sanctuary and moving worship services into the fellowship hall, among other ideas. As with other churches, our demographic includes many members of populations vulnerable to the COVID-19 outbreak,” he added. “The steps we take will be well thought-out and prayed over. During this unprecedented time, all our decisions must be prayerfully vetted by the question, ‘Are we trusting God or testing God?”