Jesus, take the wheel: North Little Rock church debuts new kind of drive-thru

Parishioner and church staffer Belinda Ortner reaches the front of the line at St. Anne Catholic Church’s drive-thru confessional manned by Father Alejandro Puello, pastor of the North Little Rock church.
(Special to the Democrat-Gazette/Dwain Hebda)
Parishioner and church staffer Belinda Ortner reaches the front of the line at St. Anne Catholic Church’s drive-thru confessional manned by Father Alejandro Puello, pastor of the North Little Rock church. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette/Dwain Hebda)

Father Alejandro Puello steps out a side door of the small church and slips a purple stole over his head, colorful and sharp against a simple white vestment. He takes a seat in a folding chair 10 feet from a line of cars idling in single file. The 36-year-old padre gazes kindly at the first in line as the window rolls down.

"Bless me, Father, for I have sinned," begins the driver.

Welcome to St. Anne Catholic Church in North Little Rock, a small, Hispanic-heavy congregation and site of the first parish-based drive-thru confessional in Arkansas which opened for business March 24.

"I mean, drive-thru confessional has always been a joke, right?" Puello said with a hearty chuckle. "It's always been kind of present in the minds of people, but what triggered the idea of doing it for me was Facebook, actually. I saw someone post a picture of their pastor doing drive-thru confessions in their parking lot."

"I said, 'We could do that.'"

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The Dominican Republic-raised priest, pastor here since June, is quick to point out that St. Anne narrowly missed being Arkansas' first parking lot confessional overall, that honor going to Catholic High School for Boys in Little Rock. But among the state's 129 parishes and missions, the little stone church in the Levy neighborhood was first to market with the idea, as least as far as Puello is aware.

"First day, not a lot of people came. We had, I don't know, seven people," he said. "But then that second day, when I first got here, I posted a picture on Facebook like, 'Hey, there's nobody in the line. No waiting!'

"The second day we had a lot more, we had maybe 15 cars and then [the next day] when it rained, we actually had about 12 to 15 cars come in."

Those Facebook posts have already gained the open-air confessional a fair amount of attention. So much so Puello is considering expanding confession times from the current one-hour window on three weeknights and 90 minutes on Saturday.

Parishioner and church staffer Belinda Ortner said for as many Catholics who have given the idea a thumbs-up online, it's the impact in the area that is most powerful.

"We cannot come to receive Jesus in the Eucharist right now, but at least we can spiritually come and have our sins forgiven by the priest," she said. "At least we've got that to sustain us. That is a very beautiful thing to have available to us, we're very blessed to have this."

Father Erik Pohlmeier, pastor of Christ the King Catholic Church in Little Rock, shepherded then-Deacon Puello for a summer before his ordination. He expressed pride in his former mentee's ingenuity.

"I am not surprised, based on my conversations with him," Pohlmeier said. "He was always somebody that was looking to be creative in connecting with people. He has a deep love for that. I would have expected that as soon as there was some interruption in his connection with people, he would do everything in his power to re-establish it because he feels so strongly called to serve others."

Of all the casualties of routine caused by the covid-19 pandemic, the impact on faith has been arguably the most jarring. Services across the denominational spectrum have been canceled, leaving houses of worship eerily empty. For Catholics in Arkansas, the last weekend of public Mass was March 14-15 by order of Bishop Anthony Taylor, in response to the coronavirus. While many Catholic churches remain open for private prayer, other rites and sacraments pose logistical concerns in the era of social distancing, particularly confession.

"I think this is one creative way to deal with the problem of churches whose confessionals are too small to administer the sacrament of reconciliation safely in this age of covid-19," Bishop Taylor said. "Father Alejandro reports that there is about six feet separating him from the penitent in the car and if there are other people in the car, they are invited to take a walk so that each penitent can confess privately and not be overheard."

"At a time when the public celebration of the Mass has been suspended, this initiative provides people a unique opportunity to come before the Lord and receive [h]is forgiveness. It's one of the ways in which people continue to live their faith in our present circumstances."

The system also gives Puello a small taste of normalcy in times that are anything but. He remembers celebrating March 15's evening Mass, the last public service for the foreseeable future, with a heavy heart.

"I had a very hard time accepting [Mass cancellation] at the beginning," he said. "You know, your head and your heart are not always [in] lockstep. In my head, I understood that this was the most prudent decision. But the part of me that is made to connect with people as a priest, as a human being, I still miss my people. That physical separation hurts."

As did many ministers, Puello immediately began livestreaming Mass for his congregation, but the tug to address the confession conundrum was equally strong. It's a sacrament for which he holds a particular devotion and an opportunity for healing he's constantly urging his flock to experience. Seated under his metal awning against the fickle Arkansas weather, he grins.

"Of all the ministry we do, confession is the second most powerful thing we do besides the Mass," he said. "It's the easiest place to be forgiven of any offense; you just walk in and God is not waiting there to hit you over the head with it; [h]e just said, 'Own it. Tell me you're sorry. Be actually sorry and it's done.' And the job of the priest is to show you God's mercy, to make it present for you."

"The confessional is about the truth and the truth is, you're not the sum total of your sins. The truth is, you're not defined only by your sins. The truth is that God loves you and [h]e's extending [h]is hand. And that's why my parishioners will tell you how often I plead with them to go to confession. I will bribe them. I will shame them. I will encourage them. Just so long as they go."

View current confession times, livestreamed Mass and other resources for St. Anne Catholic Church at saintannenlr.org and information on other Catholic services in Arkansas at dolr.org.

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“My parishioners will tell you how often I plead with them to go to confession. I will bribe them. I will shame them.” Father Alejandro Puello inside St. Anne’s. According to Puello, the building is a former 1920s honky tonk in Levy. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette/Dwain Hebda)

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Father Alejandro Puello shares a smile with a congregant at the drive-thru confessional. The 36-year-old pastor launched the idea in North Little Rock after seeing a similar setup on Facebook. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette/Dwain Hebda)

Religion on 04/04/2020

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