What Stanislaus County churches have to say about prospects of drive-in services
There’s discussion at the county level to open drive-in religious services during the current coronavirus stay-at-home order.
On her Facebook page Monday evening, Stanislaus County Supervisor Kristin Olsen posted the possibility of opening “outdoor activities, automated car washes and “drive-in” church services...”
Several religious organizations contacted Tuesday didn’t see that as a viable option, however, most agreeing that online services are working well at this point.
At Big Valley Grace Community Church, Pastor Bobby Kirchner said they are handling everything online and “will continue with that until we can safely be together again.”
Kirchner said the online services have been working well and questioned the logistics of drive-in services, adding online is “a better viewing experience than having a bunch of cars.”
But Rev. Michael Schiefelbein, senior pastor at College Avenue United Church of Christ, said in an email that their church leadership “would definitely consider this option.”
“We would need to hear the advice of the CDC and Stanislaus County health experts,” Schiefelbein said. “We would also need to get information from churches using this option about the benefits and the logistics of using it. Finally, we’d need input from our congregation.”
Hindu Temple being served well by Zoom
Vidhu Mehra, a board member at the Hindu Temple of Modesto, said they hold Zoom services daily. She said drive-in services are not very practical for the temple. “Zoom is serving our purpose.”
At Congregation Beth Shalom, Rabbi Shalom Bochner said in an email that a drive-in service “would present some logistical and halachic (Jewish practice) challenges for us so we’ll have to consider this thoughtfully.”
Bochner was scheduled to meet online with the synagogue’s officers Tuesday night and the full board next week and would put the idea on the agenda. “For now, we have nothing planned in this regard,” he said.
Pastor Joshua Trautmann at Geneva Presbyterian said in an email that they have considered the drive-in church idea.
“There are some exciting aspects of this possibility; however, we have decided there are too many downsides to this practice,” he said. “For us, we have the technology in place to reach out to people in their homes, that allows for good interaction between all people who are there.”
Mani Grewal secretary of the Sikh Temple in Hughson said drive-in services would be difficult to set up, since their services are conducted where the scriptures are located, inside the sanctuary. The temple has its sanctuary open so people can go in one at a time to pay their respects.
“As of right now, we are not going to be doing that,” said Pam Harris, finance/secretary at Orangeburg Avenue Baptist Church. The church is conducting services online on Facebook and YouTube, she said, and Sunday school classes and youth meetings on Zoom.
Executive Pastor Ed Kelley at Shelter Cove Community Church said they’d looked at drive-in services earlier, before churches were shut down. Because the church is so large, there would be logistical issues since they have five separate parking lots and the main lot would not hold enough cars.
“We have an awfully strong online presence,” Kelley said, but added that church officials would be meeting Tuesday afternoon and would discuss the issue.
This story was originally published April 22, 2020 at 4:37 AM.
