Faith in a time of coronavirus
Published 1:30 am Wednesday, April 8, 2020
Like countless others across Washington state, the nation and the globe, Sequim-area churchgoers are considering the prospect of celebrating Easter from home.
Such is the reality of life under the shadow of the novel coronavirus.
As restrictions of public gatherings have increased in recent weeks and opportunities for interactions between social groups have been forced from regular in-person gatherings to online venues, faith organizations in Sequim are finding new ways to adjust how to reach their congregations.
A number of local churches are helping people stay tuned in by turning to technology, from offering messages through Youtube and Facebook Live to meetings via applications such as Zoom.
Sequim Community Church had already been livestreaming services for a couple of years.
“We felt we could communicate from church to the home (effectively),” senior pastor Scott Koenigsaecker said.
“Even though we’re not together in the same building, people feel like they’re taking part in something that’s in real time,” he said.
With associate pastor Rick Dietzman taking the lead, Sequim Community Church staff mobilized to canvass the congregation, making sure each church member had been contacted in some form. Now 400 church members are connected to others via small groups using some form of technology, SCC staff said.
“They’ve adapted very well,” Koenigsaecker said of the church’s congregation. “The group that has had the biggest growth curve to deal with are those (who) are older and not as literate in terms of computers or … how to use a smart phone.”
On Sunday mornings, Sequim Community Church hosts a single service starting at 9 a.m., complete with live worship band and sermon. Those who tune in online — a group that includes locals along with some church-goers across the country whose churches don’t have online services, Koenigsaecker noted — can chat and ask questions to a moderator during Koenigsaecker’s sermons.
Online and call-in discussion groups follow sermons as well.
“It’s been a good conversation; it’s made a big difference,” Koenigsaecker said. “It helps make people feel like they’re connected.”
The church also offers a prayer “gathering” at 4 p.m. on Sundays and worship music sessions each Thursday evening, plus youth group (middle and high school) and children’s ministry via Facebook and Zoom technology during the week.
The Heart of Jesus Church, a relatively new (1 year old) church plant that had just moved its services to the Seventh Day Adventist Church, celebrates mass using Facebook Live at 10 a.m. on Sundays.
“We can even make arrangements to receive Holy Communion from the reserve sacrament while watching,” Father David Byer said. “People may contact me and we’ll arrange for delivering the reserve sacrament.
“We will resume meeting in person again when the restrictions are lifted, hopefully very soon.”
After initially hosting livestream services, the staff at Dungeness Community Church records a Sunday message with sermon and worship songs, then posts that video to the church’s Youtube channel at 10 a.m.
“Trying to help people feel have a sense of connection with each other is the biggest thing,” Richards said.
Lead pastor Tim Richards estimated about 750 people were reached in a Sunday service via Youtube in mid-March.
Richards augments that message with DCC Daily, a 15-minute program on weekdays offering general information, messages of encouragement and more, plus prayer conference calls on Sunday evenings people can join by computer or phone.
In DCC Daily, Richards interviews church attendees from different walks of life and have a perspective or expertise in some aspect the novel coronavirus issue.
He said staff has also been trying to connect with small group leaders to help facilitiate online meetings.
A big project DCC staff and volunteers took on was surveying the congregation about how much access and how comfortable they are with online resources. Each person who didn’t respond to the survey, got a phone call — about 600 in all, Richards said.
“Chances are those are the people who need the most help connecting,” he said.
Beginning Easter Sunday (April 12), DCC services will be carried on Wave Cable’s Channel 21 (Peninsula Area Public Access).
Other congregations have moved some services online or expect to in the coming days and weeks:
• King’s Way Sequim hosts a livestream service at 9:30 a.m. each Sunday on Youtube (youtube.com/kingswaysequim); the church’s Facebook page is home to Bible reading challenges and funny videos for children, and youth group services such as discussions and games are offered via Zoom. King’s Way also offered a “drive-thru” pastor prayer, communion and tithe on April 1.
• At First Baptist Church’s website (www.fbcsequim.com) or on the church’s Youtube page, check out sermons from senior pastor Wes Funkhouser. “Please make time to study your Sunday School lessons and talk with each other about what you are learning,” Funkhouser noted in encouraging connection on First Baptist’s web page. “Phones, email and texts are wonderful tools to help us stay in touch with each other.”
• St. Luke’s Episcopal Church hosts a bible study via Zoom on Fridays from 10 a.m.-noon and posts messages on the church’s website (www.stlukesparish.net)
• At Trinity United Methodist Church, Rev. Bill Green delivered a Palm Sunday message through Youtube and the church is looking at livestream devotions through Facebook.
• Sequim Bible Church has video messages posted online (www.sequimbible.com) and met via Zoom earlier this month.
• Olympic Unitarian Universalist Fellowship is looking into hosting a service through Zoom later this month.
Concerns
Along with changes to the method of delivery to congregations, so too — understandably — has the content. Koenigsaecker said both concerns from the Sequim Community Church congregation and his sermons have revolved around the current coronavirus issue.
“How do we frame this theologically and biblically? How do we get through what we’re going through? We address how … we deal with a global pandemic in terms what the scriptures say,” Koenigsaecker said.
Seeking to put those concerns into action, about 20 SCC attendees — along with a number of other church members from Dungeness Community Church, Seventh Day Adventist Sequim and others — began volunteering at the Sequim Food Bank. It was boon to the facility, board president Stephen Rosales said, because many of the food bank volunteers are older and more vulnerable to the coronavirus threat.
“We’ve reached out to different agencies and groups to see how we can be helpful for them,” Koenigsaecker said.
Richards said it’s a similar situation at Dungeness Community Church, with a number of church-goers asking how they can help throughout the community.
Some DCC congregation members express fear about the spread of the virus — they tend to be widows, Richards said — but he expects that tension to rise as days and weeks pass.
“There aren’t a lot of people saying, ‘I need help’; I think that’s going to come,” Richards said. “As this stretches on, I think we’re going to have more people say, ‘I have a need.’”
Pastor Jeremy Fodge of Faith Baptist Sequim said his congregation is adapting as best they can.
“Some of our people are concerned about this situation because of the health aspect,” he said. “Many of them are in a high-risk category due to age and other complications. Others are concerned about how well the economy will weather this crisis. For the most part, though, our people are confident in the goodness and mercy of the Lord. He has promised to provide for us, and we trust Him.
“Christianity has both corporate and individual aspects, so while being unable to meet together hurts deeply, our life in Christ is not ultimately dependent on whether we are with other Christians.”
In a letter announcing cancellations of Faith Baptist Sequim services in mid-March, Fodge encouraged members to pray for medical providers, community leaders, pastors and those affected by the virus, to catch up on scripture reading, stay connected, enjoy time with family, find rest and trust in the Lord.
