Early in the coronavirus pandemic, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson strongly urged churches not to gather and to voluntarily follow the directive on large gatherings.
Although places of worship were excluded from the governor's executive order issued on March 26, 2020, in conjunction with the directive on limitations for gatherings, most faith leaders in Arkansas did comply with the spirit of that directive and ceased holding worship services in person, moving worship instead to an online or outdoor platform for their congregants.
Other churches did not and continued to operate in-person.
One of the worst outbreaks in Arkansas was traced back to a single church in Cleburne County, Greers Ferry First Assembly.
The governor issued further limitations that applied to places of worship in an executive order on April 4, 2020, furthering social distancing protocols and directing that masks be worn at all times by congregants 10 years and older.
Understanding the safety reasons why in-person services needed to be canceled, many pastors felt the seclusion and isolation of their members would eventually take a toll.
"We had a lady that passed away and nobody knew if for three or four days," said pastor Matt Mosler of New Life Church-Pine Bluff. "She was in her apartment for three or four days before anybody found out. We hadn't heard from her in a while, so we called to check on her, but no one would answer the phone. Her phone was later disconnected."
Apostle Christopher Mack of Highland Baptist Church in Pine Bluff said a lot of his members weren't used to being out of the sanctuary.
"For me as a leader, it was a very stressful time trying to keep the ministry going and trying to keep the congregation and the membership together," said Mack. "We were so scattered and we are such a family-oriented ministry, it felt like we were all over the place."
Churches were challenged to switch to a virtual platform to reach their members.
Before Easter Sunday last year, many pastors assumed the change would be short-term, only to realize a year later that they were still using their online platform services.
"It allowed us to really broaden our online services," said Mack. "There was a lot of tweaking and upgrading of equipment that had to be done so everyone could enjoy the service as if they were in the sanctuary."
Mosler said that when it became apparent that the pandemic was going to linger longer than expected, he changed gears.
"I started a daily Bible study where I am just working my way through the Bible and still do it to this day," said Mosler,whose church is one of 18 New Life Church campuses in the state. "We just introduced a lot of people to Zoom, Facebook Live and anything we could to keep people in touch."
Pastor Glenn Barnes of Pine Hill Missionary Baptist Church, who is a moderator of the Central District Baptist Association overseeing several churches, said he witnessed many churches that suffered tremendously during the pandemic.
"A lot of the churches didn't have church service or they used social media and Cash App to tithe to maintain themselves," said Barnes, who added that larger churches weren't as heavily affected as the smaller churches. "The smaller churches got hit pretty bad. A lot of ministers forfeited their salaries during that time, although they were still teaching on Facebook and YouTube."
During Hutchinson's June 26 covid-19 update, he expressed his concerns about outbreaks.
Focusing on places of worship, Hutchinson displayed a map showing where, in the 14 days prior to diagnosis, active covid-19 patients had visited churches in the state of Arkansas.
Hutchinson said he had avoided giving directives to places of worship because he respects the separation between government action and the role of the church, but he asked that the guidelines be followed.
"Ninety-eight percent of our churches are fully following the guidelines and the things that have been presented," said Hutchinson. "They are being so careful and protecting their congregants, but we've had a couple of incidents as reflected here where they did not follow the guidelines and it has resulted in some clusters of cases."
Throughout the spring and summer months, many churches held outdoor services where members could worship from the comfort of their cars. Many pastors went this route to bring back fellowship in a safe way.
"Reading your Bible and prayer is very important, but relationships, community, is just as important," said Mosler.
"The big issue was not getting stuck in that rut of depending upon social media. It's so important what we do as a church."
Mosler said he resumed in-person services last summer but saw a significant decrease in his congregation, going from 500 to 100 people.
"Our demographic totally changed, but instead of looking at this negatively, I looked at this as a great opportunity to hit the reset button," said Mosler, whose church was founded in 2017. "Let's try to implement them in now and try to find a new group of leaders."
Mosler said many people visited the church who had never been there before but were looking for a place to gather.
Mack resumed in-person services in June but said a large percentage of members were very concerned about returning.
"It was a very large concern as some of them experienced health issues," said Mack. "The younger generation was a little more apt to get back into corporate worship with all the guidelines put in place."
As covid-19 vaccine doses became available for the community, churches began to see an increase in their congregations.
Easter Sunday looked a bit different compared with last year.
"We were online last year, and it was awful," said Mosler, who said the church held communion online. "It was challenging to do online because again we couldn't get people in the community to celebrate."
This year, New Life Church partnered with other community churches and held an Easter Egg hunt, which Mosler said was a big success.
"We had a great Easter service and Easter egg hunt tripling our numbers," said Mosler.
Mack also enjoyed some sense of normalcy while celebrating Resurrection Sunday.
"Last year, everything was shut down and we were at a place of not being able to enjoy the presence of each other, so this year was a little different," said Mack, who did not have the traditional egg hunt but still provided prepackaged candy and eggs. "To see the saints gathering again was a very good feeling."
Barnes questions how pastors get that impact again because some people still haven't returned, even those who have been vaccinated.
"We're optimistic as more and more people get vaccinated that we will see more and more people return to church," said Mosler, who said the church will continue with online services. "A lot of people have been very hesitant about taking that step out of their homes. The numbers are gradually growing back to where they were before, but I think it may be a while, but that's just an adjustment we just have to make."
With the mask mandate lifted, churches are still requiring their congregations to facial coverings. Socially distancing is also in place at many churches to allow at least 3 feet between families.
Mack said he is not worried about the future of the pandemic because God is in control, adding that though covid-19 has brought its challenges, his church has been more prosperous in this season than ever before.
"I say God has definitely come through for us and he is continuing to come through, even through our virtual platform where we are still receiving members that were joining the membership," said Mack. "I never closed the door as far as me going to the pulpit. I was there every Sunday, even though the audience wasn't there that I could see and touch physically."
Mosler said that if there is anything this experience has taught him, it is that there is value in being a part of a community.
"A lot of people were scared. A lot of people were confused. A lot of people that were lonely, we were able to recognize," said Mosler. "A lot of volunteers within our congregation and outside of our congregation were willing to help people when they could."
Mosler said trying to serve during a pandemic and trying to revive the service in the community was a big challenge in the beginning, but now that role is more important than ever.
"There's going to be hardships in life, and you have to make a decision," said Mosler. "We're strongly going to encourage people to get back into the community together because that is our secret weapon against anything the enemy throws at us -- having somebody stand beside us and help us and pray with us and to work with us."
