A new normal: modified worship, constant faith
Members of Canonsburg United Presbyterian Church brightened the neighborhood with “stained-glass” sidewalk art.
Christ Anglican Church, Brownsville
The Rev. Valerian Michlik conducts Divine Liturgy in the empty St. Gregory Byzantine Catholic Church sanctuary last Easter, April 14.
Jeff Rusinko coordinates a St. Gregory Byzantine Catholic Church Parish Council meeting via Zoom.
Sunday of the Fathers of the Six Ecumenical Councils service at St. Gregory Byzantine Catholic Church, July 24
Members of Canonsburg United Presbyterian Church brightened the neighborhood with “stained-glass” sidewalk art.
When the COVID-19 pandemic closed down churches across the nation last March, the Rev. Keith Almond had been at Christ Anglican Church in Brownsville for about three months.
The shutdown, he said, provided him an opportunity to get to know people faster.
“We had that common denominator of all of us being isolated,” he said.
The “new normal” that all places of worship had to contend with was and is infinitely preferable to putting lives in danger, said Almond, president of the Brownsville Area Ministerial Association.
But the pandemic, and the changes it necessitated, also served as a powerful reminder about the community that shared faith can bring.
“We all learned that church is not the building, it’s the people,” Almond said. “It’s a truism, but we relearned. It brought us together because we were more aware of each other because we didn’t take each other for granted.”
There were some cases of COVID-19 in his 35-member church, including Almond and his wife.
“It’s nothing to mess with,” he said. “Some people think it’s fake, but I can attest that it’s not. It’s very serious.”
‘That’s what we’re called to do’
At Canonsburg United Presbyterian, some people want to meet in person, and others aren’t ready. Some refuse to wear a mask, and others won’t attend without one.
Sometimes, those differences can drive a wedge, and the political tension of the past year hasn’t helped, either, said the Rev. Don Coleman, church pastor.
“The politicization of the mask wearing has been a huge detriment to the church and the community,” he said. “As a Christian, a follower of Christ, the idea that my personal preference trumps the care of the people around me, that doesn’t seem to me to be the message of Christ.”
Coleman said his church had conducted virtual services in the past, so when the shutdown occurred, everything was ready. He just never expected it to last as long as it has.
“A church is no different from a family,” he said. “You can survive on phone calls and letters for only so long. It still doesn’t meet the need that we have for being with each other.”
Even with some typical worship traditions suspended or modified, Coleman said church members have found other means of worshipping together and with other congregations, including a popup food pantry every Thursday with the Canonsburg-Houston Ministerial Association. They’ve delivered tons of food to more than 400 families in the area over the past year.
“That’s what we’re called to do,” Coleman said. “What we’ve been doing in the midst of this is not just about worshipping for an hour on Sunday morning. It’s about loving the community. Worship is only important if it’s manifest in what we do the rest of the week.”
Fresh Fire Church in Uniontown had already been doing a monthly food distribution, through an 11-year partnership with the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. In that time, they’ve never seen a need as great as when the pandemic first started.
“It depleted everything we had,” Pastor Adam Lawson said. “We had about 80 pre-made boxes, but they were gone in about three days. It was shocking. This is nothing like I’ve ever seen as far as the need and how widespread. It’s touched so many people.”
Last year, their twice-a-month food drives served about 68,000 people. So far this year, they’ve served about 16,500, Lawson said.
“It’s been a real adjustment. We’ve had to learn as we go,” Lawson said. “The volunteer base that we have has been tremendous.”
The church had already been livestreaming services, so that wasn’t as much of an adjustment, Lawson said. After about two months, when they did start meeting in-person again, it wasn’t “normal church,” he said. No one shook hands, hugged or sat near each other, and everyone wore masks.
“We had to make sure we didn’t have an outbreak here because it would have shut down our food distribution,” Lawson said. “We knew it was just too serious, because there were and still are thousands of people that depend on the food distribution, and that’s the most important thing.”
Still, for a congregation used to meeting and being together, the first six months of the shutdown affected people, Lawson said, especially folks in recovery, or who struggle with depression, or who were already experiencing isolation.
“I talked with a number of people who were struggling with the new norms,” he said. “For a period of time I thought we really had our hands full, because I was concerned for a number of our congregation.”
His congregation checked in on each other with extra phone calls, texts and emails, Lawson said.
“We really took it one day at a time and put an emphasis on those day-to-day connections,” he said. “I really think that helped make a big difference.”
‘Modern means of social media’
St. Gregory Byzantine Catholic Church in Upper St. Clair already had been livestreaming services before March 15, 2020, which turned out the be the last Sunday of public worship before precautions against COVID-19 precluded such gatherings.
“Usually, on the third Sunday of Lent, we do a cross procession,” the Rev. Valerian Michlik, parish priest, said about that particular date. “We still went out into the neighborhood with a cross that was carried by parishioners and children, and we prayed for the world as we were facing the pandemic.”
The following day, he sent a letter to parishioners informing them that the Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh was suspending in-person services until further notice.
“I ask that you please inform our faithful and faithful from other parishes about the possibilities of participating in our Divine Services through modern means of social media,” he wrote.
Acknowledging the support of the church’s cantors and of parishioner Jeff Rusinko, who produces the services for livestreaming and public-access television, Michlik reported a tremendous response to virtual participation.
“During Holy Week and Easter last year, we had thousands of people joining in from all over North America to experience the worship, because many churches were not prepped,” he said.
The church also scheduled outdoor and drive-thru events for Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter.
“Those were not easy experiences for me, personally, having an empty church for such solemn holy days,” Michlik recalled. “But we did it.”
Parishioners finally returned in a socially distanced capacity on the last weekend of May to celebrate Pentecost as the birth of the church.
“It brought tears, just to see people come back,” Michlik said.