Churches in the region find silver linings in COVID-19 era

Churches in Winnebago and Hancock counties have found creative ways to continue to connect with their congregations and the public during the pandemic.

In some cases, they are reaching people they weren’t before.

The Rev. Rod Hopp, pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Forest City, said one of the silver linings of COVID-19 is churches have been forced to do things differently, such as virtual services “that allow people to connect around the word and the faith and share life in a new way.”

Hopp said members told him they had been inviting their parents to worship for years, but they wouldn’t come.

However, now that services are being live streamed due to the pandemic, their parents are not only watching online, but talking about it afterwards.

“There are times when I’m discouraged by everything but then there’s stories like that which make me feel hopeful,” Hopp said.

The Rev. Brian Hoffman, pastor at the Kanawha Christian Reformed Church, said one of the biggest challenges during the pandemic has been how to conduct youth ministry.

For many years, the Kanawha CRC had been hosting a club called Games and Good News on Wednesday evenings for kids from age 4 up to eighth grade.

Last spring the club was put on hold due to COVID-19.

When fall arrived, “We weren’t sure how to pull it off,” Hoffman said.

After much discussion, the church tried something new.

Games and Good News leaders began putting together bags with activities, a snack and a Bible lesson to deliver to kids at their homes.

When delivering the bags, the leaders were able to stand outside and visit briefly with the families from a distance.

“That has been really wonderful for us, to be able to continue this program in a different way,” Hoffman said.

Some new kids have even been added to the program during the pandemic.

Hoffman said everyone is still looking forward to being able to host the youth at the church like they used to, but “God has been at work yet, and using our church and our ministry, and we are very excited and very blessed to see God’s work in this way.”

As far as worship services during the pandemic, “We have kind of gone on a journey,” Hoffman said.

At the beginning of the pandemic when services couldn’t be held in person, the Kanawha CRC started recording them and putting them online.

Once in-person worship resumed, the recordings continued. However, after getting feedback from the public, the church began recording and uploading just the sermon.

Hoffman said the recordings allow the church to stay connected to those who can’t make it to worship or simply don’t feel comfortable with attending yet due to concerns about the virus.

In-person worship at the Archangels Catholic Cluster of North Iowa, composed of parishes in Forest City, Lake Mills, Buffalo Center, Britt, Duncan and Garner, had already resumed when the Rev. Andrew Marr and the Rev, Joseph Sevcik, the new pastor and associate pastor, came on board in July.

For each Mass, half the pews are roped off so parishioners sit in every other pew, with each household group sitting at least six feet apart.

Face mask signs are posted at all the entrances. However, if people aren’t wearing masks, they aren’t forced to leave, Marr said.

For those who aren’t comfortable with attending in-person services, yet, the 10:30 a.m. Sunday Mass from St. James Catholic Church in Forest City is livestreamed.

As far as religious education, the Archangels parishes follow what their local school district does, according to Marr.

For example, if the school district is doing in-person instruction but requires face masks be worn at all times, that’s how religious ed will be conducted.

However, if the school district has gone back to a hybrid learning model, as happened in Garner-Hayfield/Ventura, religious ed instruction is done virtually.

Marr said hopefully a couple of weeks to a month after the general population is vaccinated for COVID-19, “we should pretty much be on our way back to as normal as we can.”

“We are meant to live in community. We are creatures that are communal by nature,” he said.

However, Marr acknowledged “there’s going to be a lot of people who don’t want to get the vaccine for whatever reason,” which could raise complications.

He said if more than 50 percent of parishioners aren’t vaccinated after a certain point, it will become a question of whether COVID-19 restrictions at church should remain “or are we going to say ‘they made that choice and now we are going to go forward.’”

Immanuel Lutheran has resumed in-person services, but is limiting attendance to 75 people. Livestreaming of services is also continuing.

“People are cautious right now, which is actually a good thing,” Hopp said.

Sone people from other congregations that haven’t returned to in-person service and whose pastors aren’t livestreaming worship have been tuning in to Immanuel’s virtual services, he said.

Before the pandemic began, Immanuel was hosting a free meal every Wednesday evening. Now those who want a meal sign up ahead of time and drive by to pick it up.

The number of meals served has decreased since the change, but “we can connect with people in a safe and way and help them out, whether it’s for mom to have a night off or if grocery money is tight,” Hopp said.

Immanuel has received grant money to install individual computers at the church so those who don’t have one at home can have telehealth appointments or just Zoom with family members living in another household.

A lot of people have begun contributing financially to Immanuel online, according to Hopp.

“People are staying connected. They want their church to come out the other side … That’s a sign of hope for me, that we are in it together,” he said.

This article originally ran on globegazette.com.