Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, St. John’s Lutheran Church temporarily canceled all in-person services. Instead of gathering together, sermons were posted online during this period. As restrictions loosened, the congregation met for the first time for a “drive-in” church service recently. Congregants sat in their vehicles and tuned into a specific radio station to listen to Pastor Jack Heino, pictured at the pulpit, deliver the sermon. (Photo submitted)
As Ohio continues to slowly open back up, churches around Marysville are starting to do the same.
Over the last several weeks, church leaders have met to discuss the procedures for re-opening and set plans in place to do so safely for parishioners, with help from the Union County Health Department.
Gene Miller, president of the Marysville Area Ministerial Association and senior pastor at Agape Community Fellowship of Marysville, said that churches in the area are being careful as they plan to reopen their doors.
“Across the board, I would say churches have taken precautions. I don’t know of one church that didn’t,” Miller said. “We’re taking a variety of measures in-house but also paying attention to what state leaders are doing.”
In March, Gov. Mike DeWine ordered the statewide closure of several businesses and issued a stay-at-home order for Ohioans but was careful to not include churches in that order, citing First Amendment rights. Miller said because of this, there were four to six churches locally that continued to meet but the “vast majority of churches” agreed to close the doors to curb the spread of the virus.
“Places offered some online and parking lot services in an effort to keep people spread out,” Miller said. “Some of the churches that continued to meet in person were just smaller congregations. Some of larger ones decided to take the advice to close down, especially as we started to see cases in Union County.”
Miller’s own church, which meets regularly in the Hope Center, opened May 17 with several new safety measures in place.
“We take temperatures at the door, enforce social distancing and have done away with things like our coffee bar and children’s meetings but hope to bring them back soon,” Miller said. “The Hope Center has ozone generators which allows us to disinfect the whole room but we also wipe things down with disinfectant between services—something I think churches all around town are doing.”
Miller added that Agape averages 80-130 parishioners and the church has spread out rows and leaves three empty seats between groups.
In some of the larger congregations around the city, churches are reducing capacity limits by half or more, Miller said. In some cases, sanctuaries have gone from as many as 300 people to as few as 65-100. Some larger places such as Trinity Lutheran Church are also asking for online or over-the-phone reservations to ensure all parishioners have the opportunity to visit in-person services.
Many churches are following the suggestions from the health department such as leaving doors open ahead of services, leaving hand sanitizer available at various stations, removing all paper items, literature and hymnal books from tables and pews and encouraging if not requiring members to wear masks.
Some of the churches that offer communion have done away with person to person offerings and have opted instead to use a communion table.
Miller said one bright spot during the pandemic has been the chance for technological innovation and connection.
“I’ve talked to several pastors and after many of them turned to online streaming during the pandemic, they have found they will continue recording and posting or evening streaming services from here on out,” he said. “Some of us have done it before or offered limited access to services such as audio recordings. But this has really given us a chance to do something new and a lot of us will continue it after things go back to normal.”
Miller said he has received feedback both from members of his congregations as well as information from various pastors on the success of video recordings.
“It’s a great way for our older residents or people who have trouble making it to services to still be involved,” he said.
Some churches such as Miller’s Agape Fellowship or Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Marysville have already started in-sanctuary services whereas others such as Trinity Lutheran Church or St. John’s Lutheran Church opened this past Sunday. Others have yet to decide. First United Methodist Church has a meeting planned for June 17 to decide how to move forward.
“We’re just taking it a step at a time and trying to be careful,” Miller said. “We’ll keep an eye on what’s happening across the state and keep moving forward.”
Connor Stutzman of Agape Community Fellowship of Marysville watches computer monitors as the church’s audio and video team record a musical performance. Video and livestream components aren’t new to some local churches but during the COVID-19 pandemic, have become a helpful asset to parishioners staying at home.
(Photo submitted)