NEWS

Easter is here and churches are empty, but Christians keep faith as coronavirus rises

Susan Bromley
Hometownlife.com

Easter arrives this week and churches are empty.

The holiest week in the Christian calendar has collided with the rise of the coronavirus pandemic, leaving believers without a church in which to congregate but with faith intact and services that continue.

“It’s a natural thing, to think the wrath of God is upon us, but in this situation, there are good moments to turn away from ourselves and use our gifts to control this disease and be loving and caring,” the Rev. Ed Zaorski of St. James Catholic Church in Novi said. “God didn’t all of a sudden decide to give the world coronavirus.”

In this time, Zaorski is counting blessings, including thanking God for technology, the church’s primary way of staying in contact with parishioners.

St. James Catholic Church, located on 10 Mile, has 3,200 families in the congregation and in the past two weeks, the priest said livestreamed Masses have received almost 1,800 hits at stjamesnovi.org. Church officials have received positive feedback about the recordings done in the familiar church to give the congregation a feeling of connection.

Still, Zaorski calls it an “awkward experience.”

“I am used to seeing a church full of people and now I’m communicating to them through a camera,” Zaorski said. “And because our church tradition is so full of symbolism, we have to be creative so people feel comfortable.”

This is ministry during the time of coronavirus.

Community Bible Church, which has campuses in both South Lyon and Brighton, has combined online services which can be seen on its YouTube channel, but scrapped livestream after the first week due to technical difficulties from so many churches trying to go online at the same time.

“Everything is a blur,” the Rev. Jon Nagle said. “We are forced during this time to set aside the embodied experience of being a church and using technology so we can have face time while quarantined.”

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Normally, on any given Sunday, Nagle said there are about 120 in the South Lyon church on Pontiac Trail south of Nine Mile. The congregation so far, he said, seems to be “weathering the storm pretty well" in terms of their health and financial well-being and are appreciative of the church using technology to connect with them online in creative ways, including piecing together music from multiple remote locations.

“We are grateful this has happened during a time that we can use technology to have some semblance of community,” Nagle said. “If this happened 50 years ago, we wouldn’t have that option.”

“I think a lot of people are asking where God is during all this,” he continued. “We haven’t had a faith crisis, instead, people are asking, ‘How can we get involved?’ We have to practice social distance, but people are jumping at the bit to step up and help. In times like this, the church is given the chance to be the hands and feet of Christ and tend to those hurting.”

'The church isn’t a building'

The coronavirus pandemic’s arrival in Michigan in March interrupted a 1 Corinthians sermon series at Community Bible Church. Now every sermon has an overarching theme of hope and all church members have been asked to film 1-minute self videos with their own personal testimony of how Jesus has changed their lives with the hashtag #storiesofhope.

Randy Weaks, the associate pastor at First Baptist Church of South Lyon has lost track of the number of in-person services that have been missed, noting that “time runs together.”

“We had never closed the doors of the church,” he said. “We are trying to comply with what everyone else is doing, it gives a bad taste if Christians or churches are meeting when everyone else is asked to stay at home.”

Instead, church officials are recording services and hosting online Bible studies at fbcsouthlyon.com and encouraging families to worship at home using Zoom or conference calling, with no excuses “because you have a lot of time you didn’t before.”

“The whole crisis allows us to remember the church isn’t a building,” Weaks said.

He acknowledges the challenge of the hands-on ministry, without being able to do hospital or in-house visits, with no hugs or in-person words of encouragement. Instead, there are daily calls to parishioners to check in for needs and more personal devotions.

“Life is full of trials, but that shouldn’t affect your faith,” Weaks said. “Life will have crisis and trouble, but the most important thing is Jesus in our hearts. Church is not confined to the four walls.”

Church ministry certainly looks different, and Zaorski notes there has been an increase in food pantry usage, and cancellation or postponement of ceremonies including weddings, funerals and baptisms.

This Sunday however, even as the world endures a crisis unprecedented in modern history, he will return to the familiar message of Easter, one of hope that does not change for Christians who believe in the Passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

“It is the greatest story ever told, ever written, ever lived,” Zaorski said. “And it is a story that continues. God has promised he will not abandon us, he will do his part and we must do our part as well. Our part is to be loving, caring, and use the talents God has given us to defeat this virus and make this world a better place.”

Connect on Easter

Here are some more area churches offering livestreamed or recorded services to watch in your own home:

To have your church added to the list send an email to sbromley@hometownlife.com.

Contact reporter Susan Bromley at sbromley@hometownlife.com or 517-281-2412. Follow her on Twitter @SusanBromley10.