This Easter, the tomb was not the only thing that was empty. So were churches celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The buildings may have been empty, but the church body was home, safe.
While churches in some states have continued to meet during the COVID-19 pandemic, in Indiana, Gov. Eric Holcomb has restricted all in-person gatherings of more than 10 people, including church services.
“This coronavirus does not discriminate. It does not care what crowd you’re in. And we have to take every measure, every responsible measure, to prevent those connections from occurring,” he said.
“You may unknowingly transmit this to someone you’ve never met, know or someone you love, and I don’t think that’s on anyone’s heart. … This disease will prey on the vulnerable. This disease will prey on large gatherings. We have it within us to prevent that,” he said.
Local churches have had to get creative in how they deliver their messages.
Nashville Christian Church has been posting Sunday services as well as youth group videos to their YouTube channel. Visitors to the channel can also find Tuesday and Friday Focus videos, where Senior Pastor Patrick Glasser shares words of encouragement and connection.
Church leaders also have been doing weekly emails and newsletters.
After going live a few times on Facebook, NCC staff realized that their reach would be farther on YouTube, since it doesn’t require a Facebook account.
Their youth group has been getting creative online, posting videos that involve students and leaders.
They are also trying to do a virtual Bible study through the YouVersion Bible app, and some groups are meeting with Zoom.
Glasser and NCC youth minister Kendall Yeaton have received messages and positive feedback from people tuning in.
Glasser said they’re looking at what they do “day by day and week by week, it seems like, in order to reach people. “It’s definitely taught me a new way of doing ministry and thinking outside of the box,” he said.
The one thing Glasser has noticed is that the NCC church family misses interaction with each other.
He doesn’t quite know what attendance will be like once social distancing ends.
“The optimistic side of me says that it’ll pick up right where it was at,” he said. “Some will also probably be cautious.”
New Life Community Church has been posting livestream services on Sunday mornings to their website and their Facebook page, as they have done for many years. Pastor Tim Conboy said they also have looked into doing an FM channel transmitter so congregants are able to tune in via radio as they sit in their cars in the church parking lot.
The Pentecostals congregation is also doing an online service.
Pastor Raymond Dupree said he had spoken with a lot of other ministers who did not know what to do for their services.
“We’re making sure that (service is) compliant,” Dupree said. “That’s the main thing: I don’t want to do anything where we’re gathering people,” especially because his congregation consists of people from multiple counties, nurses and healthcare workers who are already at risk.
His congregation has made an extra effort to remain connected through texts and phone calls. Their youth group also has met via Zoom.
Online services have seen an increase in attendees. They normally have 100 people in church each week, but online streaming has seen more than 600 views.
“I’m expecting much growth when we can gather again,” Dupree said. “This is a time we’re looking at when we realize that life can change in a moment. … People are concerned, and when people are concerned, they look to the church.”
Dupree has friends that have contracted COVID-19.
“Sometimes we think it can’t touch us — but it’s touching us,” he said.
He sees this as an opportunity for the church as a whole to realize where they are and to “get their priorities right.”
Continuing to speak and preach online is a method of fulfilling an essential service right now, Dupree believes, with politicians saying people are needed who can speak peace to our world.
Nashville United Methodist Church is making sure to include faces in their online services that would normally be seen in the pews on Sundays.
Pastor Mary Cartwright posts service videos to YouTube and includes sent-in greetings from congregants. They’ve also printed out photos and selfies that congregants send in to the church, which are then printed out and placed in the pews as if they were all there together.
St. Agnes Catholic Church is directing parishioners to the Archdiocese website at archindy.org. FM radio stations 89.1 and 90.9 also broadcast Mass at 8 a.m. on Sundays for those without access to internet.
An app called “Laudate” can be downloaded onto smartphones that features daily and weekend Masses.
St. Agnes is also encouraging people to visit the church’s website and Facebook page.
Remaining connected beyond services is still important to members of these congregations to preserve community in a time of social distancing and isolation.
St. Agnes has an emailing system — “Flock Notes” — that parishioners can subscribe to for a weekly message that keeps them in touch. They’ve also been encouraged to reach out by calling one another.
“They’re feeling like everybody,” Office Manager Becky Gillenwater said: “A little lonely — cabin fever.”
Encounter Life Ministries (ELM) normally meets Saturday nights when gathering in person in Nashville, but they’ve instead been posting worship services and sermons on Sunday mornings to their Facebook page and YouTube channel. They also post resources for children’s ministry to Facebook.
“For us, it was a launch of, ‘You need to be on these platforms,’ even though we weren’t planning on it,” said Lead Pastor Cory Joy. Only posting to Facebook before, ELM now posts prerecorded services to YouTube as well.
The ministry’s leaders have been more proactive in personal calls and texts, too, knowing that not all groups will be reached by online resources only.
Using Zoom, they also have youth group hangouts for fifth grade through high school on Wednesday nights.
Joy anticipates attendance to recover back to normal when groups are allowed to gather again, but he thinks mentalities will be changed.
“You’re going to see more people be more comfortable with the ability to do an online connection when they want to and not feel guilty,” Joy said. He believes extroverts who crave connection will be back in services as soon as they can, while others may remain more cautious. “It’ll be interesting.”
Right now, the internet is flooded with worship options.
“Some people might church-hop,” Joy said, about church attendance once gatherings can be reinstated. Some people may connect with a certain teaching style during isolation and will explore different churches they otherwise would not have tried, he said.
“I think there’s going to be a shift in how people look at church,” he predicted.
Gov. Holcomb said he was thankful for pastors sending him livestream sermons and messages of hope, perseverance and determination. After Palm Sunday on April 5, he remarked on the symbolism of the branches representing peace and victory.
“We will see victory, we will see peace when we too complete our journey through this over the next few weeks, months, whatever it takes,” he said. “It takes all of us.”
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Nashville Christian Church: youtube.com/channel/UCJcdu_EHtNa9UbfTUcBSweQ
New Life Community Church: newlifecc.org and facebook.com/newlifecc.org
The Pentecostals: facebook.com/ThePentecostalsofNashville/
Rising Hope Baptist Church: livingbetternow.org
Grace Church: gracechurchbrowncounty.com
St. David’s Episcopal Church: Zoom worship, contact [email protected] for link.
Nashville United Methodist Church: YouTube channel
St. Agnes Catholic Church: archindy.org, facebook.com/saintagnesnashville/, stagneschurchnashville.org/
Encounter Life Ministries: encounterlifeministries.org, Facebook
Parkview Church of the Nazarene: parkviewconnect.org, Facebook
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