The novel coronavirus is still sailing in the air, claiming lives and infecting people at an alarming speed. Public health officials and governments have limited large group meetings and advised everyone to socially distance and even stay at home in a bid to ‘flatten the curve.’ But, for many churchgoers, communal congregations have become all the more important during a global pandemic, thus tougher times have called for even tougher decisions.
A Church in Ohio, the US decided to host “Drive-In Church” services as a way of gathering people together for worship while being wary of concerns over spreading the coronavirus. Genoa Church, headed by Pastor Frank Carl held two “Drive-In Church” worship services on Sunday morning, one at 9:15 a.m. and another at 11:00 a.m., with around 600 people in 300 cars attending. The church had a raised platform for speakers, with attendees remaining in their parked cars to listen to the music and preaching through an FM transmitter.
This bizarre method of preaching wasn’t carried out for the sake of vanity or experimentalism, but rather as a compromise in the face of restrictions caused by a virus that has upended virtually every part of life around the globe.
Pastor Carl told The Christian Post in an interview that this was the first time that his congregation had held such a service, having been inspired by the famed Crystal Cathedral of California offering a similar worship experience years earlier.
“We decided to do this as an alternative way to allow people to worship collectively in a safe environment of their own car and to honour the guidelines of our governor,” explained Carl.
The services followed a similar order of worship to their usual church service, including sacred music led by their Music Pastor Kerry Buck and a sermon by Carl.
“We had a complete worship set, sermon, and offering buckets were in the exit as people left if they wanted to contribute — and they did so very generously,” continued Carl.
“Instead of folks saying ‘Amen,’ our outdoor gathering would enthusiastically ‘honk their horn’ to show support in the moment.”
Genoa isn’t the only congregation to have the idea of drive-in church, as they have has contacted other congregations about doing similar services, with the church thinking about possibly making it a regular part of their weekly worship post-coronavirus.
Starting next week, they intend to hold three drive-in services each Sunday, with as many as six possibly being offered on Easter Sunday next month, depending on statements from health and governmental officials who are operating in a rapidly-evolving situation.
Paul Daugherty, a pastor at Victory church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, shared the results of a similar innovative church service on Facebook.
“Desperation is the breeding ground for INNOVATION- tonight our church rose up with creativity in the midst of a crises! THE GATES of HELL WILL NOT PREVAIL— WE ARE THAT CHURCH!! As 4,000 people showed up tonight to sit in their car for an outdoor DRIVE-IN CHURCH SERVICE lot– and another 36,000+ joined us online worldwide not including the thousands who joined us live on radio with @kxoj2 where i preached half on our roof and half from a scissor lift 35feet in the sky to reach both sides of the parking as JESUS was LIFTED UP hearts were forever impacted by the message of HOPE and VICTORY over the virus!” he wrote.
“Then after service we were able to bless thousands of people as we gave out boxes of groceries & frozen chicken in a drive through manner for 600 cars full of families!!! So much love and hope and victory and miracles happened tonight! GOD’S NOT FINISHED and the BEST DAYS for the CHURCH are truly in front of us! Don’t lose hope!” he concluded.
Rev. Nick Bruckner of Unalakleet Covenant Church has also conducted similar services in Unalakleet, Alaska.
Over the past few weeks, large numbers of churches across the globe have closed their doors due to concerns over spreading the coronavirus. As a result, many congregations have looked toward alternative means of holding worship, usually through online streaming services or pre-recorded sermons posted to social media.
With worshippers confined to their homes, websites that livestream church services are reporting record figures. Pray.com, which describes itself as ‘the world’s #1 prayer app and website’, is racking up new subscribers (and revenue).
While the drive-in and online services have proven to be a solution during this crisis, Christian thinkers are split into two broad camps: the affluent few with the necessary gadgets and resources for live-streaming and driving it believes the crisis will lead to a religious revival, and the discriminated many believers who are of touch with both the internet and cars. The later are hopeless and think the crisis will hasten the demise of organised religion.
Livestreamed services, meanwhile, are proving a poor substitute for the real thing. They lack the vital communal dimension of worship and even the most pious Christian will admit they are, at times, excruciatingly dull. At church, you can fill the longueurs by gazing across the pews, but laggy live-streams only accentuate the tedium. Worst of all, believers are unable to receive the Eucharist.
For decades now, observers have declared that Christianity is dying. Rampant secularisation coupled with coronavirus will only seem to bring forward the obsequies, they say.
But Christianity began amid defeat and despair. And, this won’t be the end. Rather a new beginning.
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