BELLA VISTA -- Several churches have been hosting their sermons online, allowing churchgoers to attend a service of sorts while staying safe at home.
Pastor Paul Hass with Bella Vista Lutheran Church, 1990 Forest Hills Blvd., said while the prerecorded sermons on the church's website are shorter than a traditional church service, he believes the service still fills the need of connecting people to their faith.
"This is not us doing something to compromise; this is us doing something to stay connected," he said.
It's also not a chance to slack off, he said.
Hass said he views the congregation as a family, and during these tough times, he's staying busier than ever comforting members of that family.
He said learning to record a sermon for viewing hasn't been easy. While the church already had equipment, its leadership -- much like that of other area churches prerecording their services -- found a lot of work goes into making a decent video.
"We all look at TV and think that what they do is so simple because we see it every day," he said. "None of that's true."
Hass said he's fortunate to have people in the church who are very talented, and he's pleasantly surprised with the quality of the video services they've prepared over the past three weeks.
Farther south, the Bella Vista Baptist Church at 50 E. Lancashire Blvd. has been hosting online service and last weekend tried something different.
Renee Estes, the church's office manager, said the church is prerecording services and uploading them to its website and Facebook page.
Last weekend, she said, the church hosted a drive-in service, with senior pastor Brent Summerhill speaking to the congregation via FM radio in their cars.
Cars were spaced for safety and churchgoers flashed their lights and honked their horns in place of applause.
After evaluating this unconventional service, Estes said, the church will decide whether to host an Easter service this Sunday in a similar fashion.
The safety of members is extremely important, she said, and she hopes hosting a service such as this can keep everyone safe.
"God is good all the time. He's going to get us through this; that's for sure," she said.
One church member who showed up for the drive-in session, Eric Halsell, said he was glad to see this innovation.
While this obviously isn't ideal, it's important to take precautions, he said.
"I think it's one way to get closer to being personal and together," he said. "There's a little whimsy to it, kind of like going to the drive-in."
That personal connection is essential, he said, because isolation is well-known to be detrimental to people's health.
With any luck, these precautions won't be necessary for very long, he said.
"I'm just glad that we can do this and people are being inventive," Halsell said.
NW News on 04/08/2020