Local pastors move Easter services online to comply with state order to stay home

As people across the state and nation are forced to isolate, Christians have had to face the fact that they cannot celebrate Easter in a traditional church setting. In Thurston County, however, pastors are moving services online to keep a sense of community.

“Our digital attendance has pretty far surpassed our physical attendance,” said Jim Ladd, lead pastor at the Evergreen Christian Community in west Olympia. “We were already streaming gatherings online, so it wasn’t a really big pivot. It seems it has gone really well.”

The day before Gov. Jay Inslee announced a statewide ban on social gatherings of more than 250 people on March 13, Evergreen Christian canceled in-person services. Before COVID-19 hit, the church had about 2,000 people in its congregation.

“We tried to frame it that, for us as a church, to practice social distancing — to stay home, stay healthy — was not a declaration that God couldn’t keep us safe,” Ladd said. “….We were doing it so we could slow the virus down. Some people battled with ‘If we say we believe in God, why can’t we gather?’ We addressed that right off the bat.”

Near the end of March, the church sent a survey to everyone in its network — about 5,000 people — to find who the most vulnerable members were. Volunteers are now delivering groceries and prescriptions to people.

“We have been making hundreds of calls a day just to check on those people,” Ladd said.

Inslee began announcing bans on the number of people that could gather last month, ultimately signing a statewide order that required everyone to stay home on March 23. The ‘Stay Home, Stay Healthy’ order was initially set for two weeks, but has been extended through May 4. It bans all gatherings for “social, spiritual and recreational purposes.”

In other parts of the U.S., religious leaders have openly defied state mandates to stay home. The Los Angeles Times reported that a pastor in Thousand Oaks, California offered in-person Communion on Palm Sunday. The New York Times reported that Tim Remington — a pastor and state representative in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho — led a church service only days after Idaho’s stay-at-home order went into effect.

In Thurston County, however, services have largely moved online in accordance with the state’s Stay Home, Stay Healthy order.

“We want to get with reality,” Ladd said. “The most important thing is ‘How does our faith intersect with reality?’ … You don’t want to increase anxiety or fear, but you also have to address it with a faith perspective of how to address the loss of control that you feel.”

Even local churches with smaller congregations and older populations who are less able to access online services are posting sermons online and to Facebook. Tumwater First Baptist Church has a congregation of about 90 people. Many members are older, and more vulnerable to COVID-19. Pastor Jacob Pope held the church’s last in-person service on March 15.

“Most people recognize that, for the good of this community, this is what we have to do,” Pope said. “Overall, they (the congregation) have responded well, but we miss being with each other. We’ll miss Easter.”

Some pastors have gotten creative to stay in touch with their congregation. Jon and Fawn Cobler — co-pastors for the Church of Living Water — posted a video this week on appropriate ways to invite someone to Easter online service. Methods included writing a message on the sidewalk with chalk, shouting from a rooftop and using a toy bow and arrow to deliver a note to your neighbor.

“We’re not the fanciest church in town and we’re not trying to wow you with pizzazz,” said Jon Cobler. “So when it’s authentic and real, the people in our congregation really connect with that. The people tune in for the substance and content.”

At The GraceWorks Church — a non-denominational church in Lacey and DuPont with about 600 members — Lacey co-pastor Drew Gafken has become the impromptu media manager. He edits and compiles videos people send him, before posting sermons to the church’s Facebook page. He and his wife, Lauren Gafken, have turned their guest bedroom into a makeshift recording studio.

For churches with less tech savvy congregations, however, delivering sermons to members is more difficult. Some members of Tumwater First Baptist Church still don’t have the internet, Pope said.

“The biggest challenge is, how do we get it to people who don’t have internet,” Pope said. “That’s always my thought: How do we continue to connect with them?”

In his church — like many others in the area — community leaders keep in contact with a smaller group of 10-12 people. Leaders call each person about once a week. If a member is older, leaders also keep in contact with their relatives to make sure they have the resources they need.

“We have an account that allows us to help people within our church family,” Pope said. “... We only have so much, but it allows us to help each other out because stuff happens and we try to save a little in the good times to help in the bad times.”

Church of Living Water has about 6,000 people in its congregation and about 2,000 that generally attend in person at its locations on Sundays, Jon Cobler said. His church has seen an increase in giving. Evergreen Christian Community initially saw a dip in giving, but Ladd said it has resurged. Pope said that he doesn’t believe not meeting in person has affected giving at his church.

At The GraceWorks Church, however, about 40% of the giving previously took place in person at the end of the service. Not meeting in person will affect funding at the church, but Gafken said it’s too early to tell how much.

“Within the next couple weeks, we will be able to tell how much it’s affected us,” Gafken said. “It’s something we kind of anticipated, and we’re trusting God that it’s not for a long time. That’s what we’ve told our people over the last couple weeks.”

However, The GraceWorks Church is also reaching people across the country with its online sermons.

“I look at the statistics Sunday mornings after we live stream and people all over the country have been viewing us,” Gafken said. “We’re not a big church, we’re not a champion center, but it’s cool how God is using technology.”

This story was originally published April 12, 2020 at 5:45 AM.