Sitting in front of a whiteboard outlining the day’s lesson, Pastor Isaac Zull held up a laptop showing a photo of the moon-like landscape in an ancient Turkish city.
The students participating in First Baptist Church’s Wednesday evening Bible study couldn’t be there in person, so the class was livestreamed on Facebook as worship leaders turn to social media during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
“A lot of things are different right now and we can’t gather together as a church … but we want to still be able to grow together and interact together,” Zull told the class.
The pandemic is keeping the faithful of the pews during one of the most sacred times of the year, as Christians observe Lent and prepare to celebrate Easter. Most in-person services may be canceled for the next several weeks and other events hosted by local churches have been put on hold.
But the internet is allowing churches to stay in touch with their congregations. As Zull began his virtual lessons, pastors at Rock Point Church led video devotionals on Facebook. The children’s director at Woodland Heights Christian Church went on social media to read a story.
Grace & Mercy Ministries Pastor Peggy Miller invited congregants to watch a livestream of Sunday’s praise team performance from the church’s parking lot. Other churches invited members to tithe online.
Even communion is moving to the Web. First Christian Church Pastor Rev. Darla Goodrich broke bread following a video sermon last week, and congregants received instructions for making an altar at home.
Multiple local churches had already taken worship online long before the pandemic through Facebook streams, podcasts or apps. About a quarter of Protestant churches livestream services, according to a survey by religious organization LifeWay Research.
In 2019, half of Protestant churchgoers said they watched a livestream of an in-person church service at least once in the past year, the survey found.
“The church is the people, so we just want to take care of each other and pray,” said Rev. John Van Nuys of Wabash Avenue Presbyterian Church, who posts his weekly sermons online.
At the usual worship time Sunday morning, Van Nuys planned to dress in his clergy robe and stand on the church steps holding a sign reading, “I Am Praying for You.” When he first brought the sign out last weekend, Van Nuys said some passing motorists honked their horns in approval, while others gave the middle finger.
Inside the church, a stack of unemployment forms sat on a chair free for the public. Van Nuys also printed copies of his “COVID-19 Spiritual First Aid Kit,” which offered a list of suggestions for singing hymns, reciting Bible verses and doing physical activity. He offered chocolate bunnies saved for Easter morning to people arriving for a recovery class.
The outbreak has forced the disruption of Lenten season activities. Both the women’s and men’s Lenten breakfasts were canceled, as was First Christian’s ecumenical soup series. The limits on public gatherings could still be in place by Holy Week in early April.
“We are going to observe Easter on the first Sunday we can gather regardless of when that is,” Van Nuys said.
For Orthodox Christians, the pandemic hit during the period when adherents abstain from certain foods leading up to Pascha, or Orthodox Easter. In-person services across the diocese have been restricted to the priest and a few chanters.
At St. Stephen the First Martyr Orthodox Church last week, congregants watched on Facebook as Father Joel Weir led the presanctified liturgy.
“This is a time of fasting, not only now from the foods that the church prescribes,” Weir said, “but also we’re fasting from being together, which may be one of the most difficult things to fast from.”
