A new normal: modified worship, constant faith
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.
Members of Canonsburg United Presbyterian Church brightened the neighborhood with “stained-glass” sidewalk art.
Harry Funk/Observer-Reporter
Faith Chapel Community Church in Cecil Township
Christ Anglican Church, Brownsville
When the COVID-19 pandemic closed down churches across the nation last March, Faith Chapel Community Church in Cecil Township was no exception.
“At first, it wasn’t difficult because no one thought it would last this long,” church member Iris Doverspike said. “The longer it got, the harder it became.”
Faith Chapel has about 30 members who used to attend every Sunday in the small building with the tall steeple at Lawrence and First streets. Inside is a very traditional setting: cushioned pews, stained-glass windows, a missionary prayer board, hymnals. Members of congregation aren’t the types who otherwise would have attended church online.
But within the first few weeks of the shutdown, their pastor, the Rev. Jim O’Brien, was streaming services on YouTube.
“They were more like fireside chats,” he said. “The hardest thing for us was we had never really done anything other than traditional in-person services. So the question was, what do we have to do to still be able to minister to people?”
The virtual services actually grew attendance, he said. Many of O’Brien’s relatives and others who had never attended in the past started watching online, and more people have been donating financially to the church.
“It’s kind of hard to believe with everything else going on,” O’Brien said. “Maybe people just realized, ‘Hey, where can we give?'”
After about six months, the church reopened, with those in attendance following guidelines for social distancing. Between 10 and 12 people now worship in person.
Doverspike and her husband have decided to remain home, watching online, as Dennis’ health complications have put him in an at-risk category.
“You can call and text people but it’s just not the same,” Iris said. “But I started counting my blessings that none of us have been sick with COVID.”
Even with the church reopening, it’s not the same.
“It’s weird because before, everybody would be hugging each other and hanging out. Now everyone just leaves after,” O’Brien said. “It’s easy to let fear grip you, but God’s still in control.”
’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.
St. Gregory subsequently instituted outdoor services, which continued through October, and then moved indoors with the implementation of various safety considerations.
“Even now, for the divine services on the weekends, we take people’s temperatures,” Michlik reported. “There’s hand sanitizer. And then everyone has a spot in the pew.”
Everyone wears masks, the priest included, and they’re provided for those who arrive at the church without them.
’You’re family and you belong'
A strong sense of togetherness is imparted with the motto of South Canonsburg Church: “You’re family and you belong.”
So suddenly not being able to conduct in-person services presented a challenge for a church where virtual worship never had been considered.
“It was such a time that disengaged with people,” the Rev. Steve Parkhill, South Canonsburg pastor, said. “Anything you’re not engaged in, you lose momentum for: momentum of relationship, even momentum of faith. One of the greatest impacts COVID has had on the community of faith is that it has curtailed relationships at various levels.”
Phone calls, texting, even virtual services are not the same as being able to see the folks he considers family each week, Parkhill said.
“I know my people, and when I can lay eyes on them, I can read them,” Parkhill said. “It’s hard to do that when they’re not there.”
The church reopened June 1, after removing half the chairs in the sanctuary and spreading them six feet apart.
“I don’t think we’ll ever be back to normal,” Parkhill said.
‘It’s not healthy to be isolated’
Adjusting to the changes may be more difficult for churches with more traditions, such as Mass and Holy Communion. One of the toughest changes for the Rev. Carmen D’Amico, pastor of St. Oscar Romero Parish, was the inability to pray over loved ones who were dying.
“Only more recently have things opened up more where they would allow a family member to be in the room with them,” D’Amico said. “We would tell them put the phone by their loved one’s ear. That human contact is so important in ministry and in celebrating our relationship with God.”
D’Amico’s parish is spread out over three churches in Washington County. They opened back up in June for in-person mass at 25% capacity, and they plan to have folks make reservations for Easter services.
“We’ve tried to really maintain that sense of community and the sense of love and care for each other,” he said. “It’s the challenge that keeps us energized to continue to reach out.”
Taking care of each other, following guidelines and doing what they can to not spread the virus, has become a motivator for some parishioners, D’Amico said.
“It fulfills that sense of service or ministry by taking care of people and not putting them in danger,” he said.
The church’s services, including a Spanish-speaking service, have been livestreamed this past year, but since Lent began, more people are showing up in person.
“There is a sense of isolation and despair that has set in for some,” D’Amico said. “As human beings we’re created to be social. There’s that innate need in us to be with one another, and it’s not healthy to be isolated.”
No that familiar with Zoom
While the pandemic has made adjustments necessary for all churchgoers, those who provide religious education to children have faced their own challenges.
At St. Gregory, the Eastern Christian Formation program for kindergarten through 12th grade ended a bit prematurely last mid-March before resuming in September in a hybrid format. Parents of older children have the option of them attending either in-person or virtually, while youngsters through second grade participate only online for the sake of safety.
“All of our teachers, they’re wonderful and very dedicated. But not everybody was that familiar with Zoom,” educator Lori George said.
A teacher who conducts virtual classes in her job as a college professor gave a tutorial, and Rusinko also lent his expertise.
“All in all, it has gone really well, with a few technical issues here and there,” George reported.
With people in general gaining more technical knowhow during the pandemic, online church activities have become commonplace and look to continue for the foreseeable future. And in cases of churches with larger congregations, offering a variety of worship options can be important.
’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, according to 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 of their typical worship traditions being 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.”