Churches across the country are starting to hold drive-in services as the coronavirus pandemic forces a pause on in-person worship.
“People want to connect to something stable,” said Senior Pastor Harry Saylor, who heads up the Faith Fellowship Church of Winfield in Alabama, which is now holding services at the local Blue Moon Drive-In.
In North Carolina, the Harriet Baptist Church is also holding its services outdoors, having cars pull up into a drive-in movie theater.
“I just wanted to be able to gather and keep people safe,” Pastor Will Breedlove said.
His church took many precautions to fall in line with the coronavirus guidelines, including capping attendance at 50 and requiring people to keep their car windows up. Breedlove broadcast the sermon through people’s car radios.
“It’s very hard to be Southern Baptist and not be hugging,” said Stephanie Gupton, one of the church attendees, while another couple who attended the drive-in sermon called it uplifting and said it gave them “strength to go forward.”
In-person services have been shut down nationwide as federal guidelines have recommended large gatherings be canceled or postponed. Some states have also issued shelter-in-place orders, which make the guidelines mandatory by law. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio even threatened to close places of worship still holding in-person services during the outbreak permanently.
President Trump said Sunday that he expects the virus to peak in the United States in two weeks.
