Churches in Mississippi, like others across the country, are suspending Sunday morning worship services in response to the coronavirus. As MPB's Ashley Norwood reports, church leaders are relying on technology to keep their congregations safe and spiritually connected.
It's Sunday morning and members of New Hope Baptist Church in Jackson are driving up to an empty parking lot. Where there's normally a crowd of worshippers entering the building, there are now five deacons standing curbside. Each of them wearing gloves as members drive up and drop their tithes and offerings into a basket.
Jerry Young is pastor over the 3,000 member congregation. Standing in an empty sanctuary, he delivers his message to members online. He admits there are some challenges transitioning worship services but he says it would be irresponsible for the church to ignore experts and their guidelines.
"This is not a matter of faith over fear or fear over faith. It is the church deciding that the church is part of the community. We're going to cooperate with the community to make sure that we do all we can to be responsible," says Young.
Pepper Carter is a minister at Broadmoor Baptist Church in Madison. Their congregation reaches almost 4,000. She says they were already streaming services online, but the challenge was creating a sense of community and engagement for small groups online.
"We created online platforms using Zoom, and teams and Facebook live to make sure that our life groups in those communities could still meet together they could still see each other and they were still walking through life day in and day out together. I think it's been very obvious to us that you can still be the church and not be in the church," says Carter.
Church leaders say during this time of uncertainty, it is important Mississippians protect their physical health in addition to their spiritual well-being. Ashley Norwood, MPB News.