Church Holding Drive-In Services
Pastor Dennis Bergen and his wife Charlene last met with their congregation in pews on Sunday, March 15. Amid the growing covid19 pandemic and suggestions from the CDC, the Bergens have since taken an alternative approach to church services in order to comply with social-distancing suggestions. For the past three Wednesdays and Sundays, worshipers have gathered in the seats of their vehicles, on truck tailgates or atop picnic blankets to hear weekly sermons in a drive-in setting.
“At 10:30 a.m., we post our Sunday service to YouTube and Facebook, and as 11 a.m. rolls around, people wheel in,” said Charlene.
Attendees are directed to parking spaces with one traffic-coned space in between to allow for a six-foot gap. The Banner Church of the Nazarene parking lot gradually slopes, which allows for a good view of the make-shift stage throughout the lot. A sound system has been erected at the front entrance of the building, between two large columns.
Despite limited communication due to distancing, the Bergens have worked to incorporate
interactions with church-goers.
“[Pastor] Dennis will ask the congregation to honk if they can hear him, or honk in praise, and people will lay on their horns, and that’s fun,” Charlene said. “Last week was Palm Sunday, so we asked people to bring branches to sway. They showed up with flowering dogwoods and redbuds — anything they could find.”
“If they would like to make on offering, they can flash their headlights and a man with a bag will come around and collect it while trying to maintain a safe distance.”
As Easter approaches, the Bergens anticipate an increase in attendance and expect to accommodate more than 100 cars this Sunday.
“We think we may have to add more parking,” Charlene said. “But unless it’s just raining cats and dogs, we plan to be out there. Guests may have to crack their car windows and listen.”
Banner Church of the Nazarene offers sermons online at www.bannerchurch.com with recent services, as well as previous videos dating back more than two years. The Bergens also regularly post personal devotionals and testimonies to Facebook and share supplemental counseling and advice from other religious sources.
“That’s something that we want to keep up after this coronavirus is over. We’ve had many people reach out and say that it’s been a great way to connect during this time,” Charlene said. “I think we’ll never be the same after this. Churches will probably continue some things that we’ve started doing during this time, that maybe we should have been doing all along.”
Many other churches in the area have begun posting online versions of weekly sermons online, whether that be on YouTube, Facebook or on their official website. A select few have enacted the drive-in services as well.