Churches adapt to continue Holy Week and Easter services

The pews may be empty, but several local churches are keeping services going during the COVID-19 crisis, as Easter arrives.

Buffalo Center churches will continue their tradition of holding ecumenical services for Holy Week this Thursday and Friday, although they are moving to an online format.

This year, the Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services will feature prerecorded music and conversations with Pastor Jonathan Faulkner from First Congregational Church, Pastor Nate Hedin-Schmidt from Bethlehem Lutheran Church, and Pastor Bill Peake from First Reformed Church. Those services will be posted on church websites and Facebook pages, including www.bethlehemlutheranbc.com and www.godsheartforthose.com.

Holy Week kicked off on Palm Sunday, April 5, and Bethlehem Lutheran held its first ever drive-in service to celebrate. Pastor Nate preached from the rooftop as people gathered around the church in their cars, with palm fronds in hand. The event was such a success that Bethlehem plans to also hold a special drive-in service for Easter.

To accommodate a larger crowd, the Bethlehem drive-in service on Sunday, April 12 will be held at the North Iowa High School softball field. The service begins at 9:30 a.m., and people can tune in on the radio at 95.5 FM. Pastor Nate says they want to help people feel connected during Easter. “It’s great that we can celebrate Easter, but part of the joy of Easter is you get to celebrate it with your church family,” said Pastor Nate.

Pastor Bill of First Reformed Church is getting back into the swing of things after undergoing heart bypass surgery last month. The church has been rebroadcasting previous services on the radio the past few weeks, but starting on Easter Sunday, Pastor Bill will return live on the air for a 9:30 a.m. service. First Reformed also invites people to drive to the church on Sunday and listen in their cars, as the service is broadcast on KIOW 107.3 FM.

First Congregational Church won’t have a live broadcast on Easter Sunday, but their weekly services can now also be found on KIOW 107.3, airing at 12:30 p.m. on Sundays. Services are also posted online at 9 a.m. Sunday at www.godsheartforthose.com.

Pastor Jonathan says their Sunday services are actually reaching more people now than they were before restrictions went into place on public gatherings. “We’re reaching probably ten times the amount of people as we’d normally have in church on Sunday,” said Pastor Jonathan. He says a nationwide survey showed that many of people viewing services online had never attended a church before. He says online services also allow people to check out services from multiple churches each week.

“We are doing everything we can to maintain some semblance and feeling of normalcy,” said Pastor Jonathan. He notes that First Congregational’s services contain the same liturgy parishioners are used to hearing every week, and they’re also providing a way for people to sing the hymns together, with lyrics posted to the website.

Pastors are also posting messages throughout the week online. “I’m trying to give people something encouraging to view,” said Pastor Nate, who posts daily messages on Facebook.

“I think all of this has a way of pushing everybody to think, ‘what are we dealing with and where can I find an anchor?’” said Pastor Bill. He notes that the sanctuary at First Reformed is always open for people to come in and pray.

The local churches also continue to welcome people to sign up for the “I Need Help/I Can Help” program sponsored by the North Iowa Ministerial Association. A link to request or offer help can be found on the Bethlehem Lutheran Church website at www.bethlehemlutheranbc.com. Pastor Nate says they’ve had a lot of people sign up offering to help, but not many people have responded saying they need help.