A Time for Fellowship: Moravian Churches Find New Ways to Worship
Grace, Mountain Laurel congregations adapt to current circumstances
By AMIE KNOWLES
MT. AIRY — Walking into Grace Moravian Church on a typical Sunday, you’d find 150 believers at worship. There would be singing, preaching, liturgy and of course, plenty of fellowship. All of that is still taking place today, but the pastor and congregation have just found a different way to do it.
After Gov. Cooper’s first executive order in March, Pastor Neil Routh found himself preaching to a camera and the church’s production crew, hoping that his message would reach at least some of the faithful members.
Jumping into an online-only format wasn’t an easy decision. Besides, there were other area churches that canceled their services until the end of the pandemic. Grace Moravian could have easily done the same.
“I was thinking about just pulling the plug on everything and doing stuff from the iPad,” Routh said. “And the worship team’s like, ‘Wait, wait, wait.’ And I realized that they were getting as much out of the process as anything that the product could produce for the rest of the community.”
After carefully reading the governor’s order, which limited the number of people gathering in one space to 10 or less, Routh realized that preaching to the production team wasn’t breaking any rules, so he decided to give it a try.
While the church hadn’t been livestreaming their services, Grace Moravian already recorded and uploaded meetings to YouTube following the regular message each Sunday. The idea here was similar. Routh and his team started meeting on Saturday to prerecord a message for the following day, one that appeared online at the same time as their regular service would.
On March 15, the first recording went up online. Much to Routh’s surprise, it wasn’t just a handful of members who watched the message.
“We had 400 downloads that first week, which is way bigger than our church,” Routh said. “I thought, ‘Huh, what’s all this about?’”
Routh joked that the 400 views could have been members trying to figure out the technology and clicking on the service multiple times, but the numbers appeared again the following week — and again the next.
“It was pretty much the same thing on March 22 and 29,” Routh said. “When I watched that service production, I realized that people were coming together even more so. There was something happening for them because they knew this was for the greater good. It was reaching not only our congregation in many ways.”
Routh said there’s no way to know just how many people the 400 downloads reached. An individual could’ve turned in alone. A couple could’ve watched together. An entire family could’ve received the message. Like the five loaves of bread and two fish, the 400 views easily could’ve reached several thousand people.
“It’s just so big, it’s like standing at the Grand Canyon and trying to figure out what this means,” Routh said. “It’s just so beautiful.”
Last week, the pastor and approximately 30 church members took the technological service a step further. They met for a Sunday School service on Zoom, a popular virtual meeting ground.
“I’ve noticed people that are able to use Zoom and stuff like that, that even in their community, their family, there’s a closer knit thing,” Routh said.
Finding Fun in Fellowship
About an hour down the road, another church of the same denomination also took steps to gather together while staying apart.
Pastor Ted Burcaw at Mountain Laurel Moravian Fellowship in Laurel Springs didn’t settle on a direction for his congregation right away. At first, he recorded videos of devotionals and miniature sermons and posted them online for the 20 or so church members to view at their convenience.
While some members watched the services, something felt off. Pastor Burcaw pinpointed the issue, but needed a way to fix it without disregarding Gov. Cooper’s safety guidelines.
“One thing about our church is that we value worship, but we also value the opportunity to just be together and fellowship,” Burcaw said. “So the church was kind of a gathering place for both of those things, for worship and fellowship.”
Watching a message online didn’t cut it for his membership. He sought a different way to bring everyone together, while still practicing social distancing.
“It became clear to me during that time that if we didn’t practice in some way being a community — and it’s a close community — but if you don’t work at it, you just become more scattered,” Burcaw said.
Last week, Mountain Laurel Moravian Fellowship started using Zoom. Each day during Holy Week, the pastor conducted meetings through the online platform. It was quite different than what many of the members were used to, but the church quickly adapted.
“The first time you do it, it’s awkward, but we realized that it really is a way of being together,” Burcaw said.
Going forward, there is one aspect of the virtual meeting Burcaw still hopes to troubleshoot, which is the worship portion of the service. He recalled a humorous event when the time lag between members’ devices created a chorus unlike any other.
“Music is a very important part of the Moravian tradition, but the one time that we actually tried to sing a hymn together, it just didn’t go so well. Everybody’s just sort of like a second or two off from one another,” Burcaw said. “So that part, we haven’t figured out yet. A few times, everybody’s muted their microphones and I would just sing and that’s not a suitable substitution. But in terms of every other aspect of worship, it works.”
While Burcaw noted he looked forward to gathering together in person again once COVID-19 clears, he said there were positives that came out of the pandemic for his congregation — especially given that the closest member still lives 20 minutes away from the mountain church. He hopes, even after the crisis ends, to still use Zoom as a means of communication, especially for members who can’t make it to the church’s study groups during the week.
“We’ve learned something from this and we’re going to use it moving forward,” Burcaw said.
For those interested in joining the churches online, Pastor Routh at Grace Moravian Church encouraged guests to visit the church’s Facebook page, which provides links to the church’s YouTube services. You can also follow this link to go directly to their YouTube page. Visitors may subscribe to the YouTube page for the latest updates or do so through Grace Moravian Church’s free mobile app. Pastor Burcaw encouraged visitors to view Mountain Laurel Moravian Fellowship online at www.mountainlaurelfellowship.com or on Facebook for the latest updates.
Amie Knowles is a reporter for NWNC Magazine.
