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Church of the Nazarene hosting drive-in service
With its drive-in church service, Greencastle Church of the Nazarene has found an innovative way to stay connected in this era of social distancing.
To find out what other local churches are doing, check out page 3A.
With the state’s Stay at Home order in place to help slow the spread of COVID-19, many churches have turned to streaming online services. (See story, page 3A.)
However, that’s not an option for every congregation. With a congregation that’s not necessarily tech-savvy, Greencastle Church of the Nazarene at 580 S. CR 100 East (Round Barn Road) has taken a different approach.
Co-pastors Bob and Jane Muncie have been hosting drive-in church, a practice they plan to continue for as long as its allowed by current state regulations.
In that way, the congregation can continue gathering together in one place, even as the worshippers keep their distance from one another.
“People drive their car in and we have them in a diagonal facing the church,” Jane Muncie said. “My husband has rigged up a transistor thing he bought for $8 at Walmart. You can just plug it into our P.A. system. It goes out through the radio.”
Worshippers simply tune in to 107.7 FM and they can hear the message.
Even with this altered form of worship, congregation members are finding ways to keep things as normal as possible.
“It was pretty cool last week. I noticed one lady last week — we were singing and she had her hand out the window,” Jane said. “Bob would say ‘Can I hear an amen!’ and they honked their horn. It was pretty cool.”
They even found a way to collect tithes. Announcing that no offering had to be given, those with an something were asked to roll down their windows. A five-gallon bucket on the end of a pole was then brought around for collection.
It’s one way to stay connected at a time when the congregation is otherwise unable to perform it normal ministries.
“We’ve really canceled all our other ministries at this time,” Jane said. “We have an older congregation and it was going to be hard to do it online.”
It’s also a way for the church to reach those who may not have other options, whether they are those looking for a church or those with a church but without options to watch it online.
“One of the things we did see last Sunday was there were other people who couldn’t get to their churches and they came as visitors,” Jane said. “It wasn’t as if we were asking, ‘Are you going to come to our church?’ But it gave them a way to come and worship.”
Anyone interested in attending is invited to the church at 10:30 a.m. this Sunday.