Pews empty, pulpits live-streamed
Plus: CMS expected to restore April spring break; American slashes more flights; South End's coronavirus attitude: 'What, me worry?'
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Churches around the region went online Sunday morning, as pastors preached to empty sanctuaries; ‘Where is everybody?’
At Carmel Baptist Church in Matthews, senior pastor Alex Kennedy and worship leader Justin Taylor held the 9:30 a.m. service in front of just 20 staffers and family members. At many local churches this weekend, congregations watched online because big gatherings were discouraged for health reasons.
by Ken Garfield
On an unprecedented morning in a turbulent time, Carmel Baptist Church on Sunday joined houses of worship across the Carolinas and beyond in harnessing modern technology to deliver an ancient message: Keep the faith.
Putting into practice that new reality in our lives — social distancing — congregations with the money and means locked their doors and live-streamed worship services to congregants on their cell phones, laptops, desktops and large-screen TVs. At Carmel Baptist on N.C. 51 in Matthews, just 20 staffers and family members attended the 9:30 a.m. service in person.
Even with the church’s best efforts to publicize the online-only Sunday, here came church member Anthony Masi, arriving 15 minutes before the opening hymn. Driving into the empty parking lot, he rolled down his window and asked, “Where is everybody?”
Told where everyone was — at home — he turned around and headed for the nearest device, tie and jacket and all. I’ve been writing about faith and worship for 30 years and I’ve never seen anyone quite this unique, and quietly moving.
Live-streaming, of course, is nothing new. But this felt different: Sanctuaries and auditoriums eerily empty, the lights turned low for the TV cameras, as clergy and lay leaders prayed for the ailing and for the doctors.
At Carmel, appropriate words from Scripture filled two giant screens on each side of the stage, including these from Psalm 46: God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
On cue from the producer, worship pastor Justin Taylor strummed his guitar and sang, “I‘m no longer a slave to fear for I am a child of God.” All who gathered around a device at home were asked to stand and sing with him. Then senior pastor Alex Kennedy, the only other soul on stage, rose to remind us that Christians march to a different cadence. Through plagues, wars, famine and pestilence, they run toward the crisis rather than away from it, seeking to be “Jesus with skin on,” as he put it. In these uncertain times, he invited those who believe in Jesus “to rest in his certainty.” In true Baptist fashion, Kennedy closed by inviting people to gather in an altar call — wherever they were watching.
At the close, Kennedy, his cameramen and other colleagues seemed certain they had struck a chord, even without an audience present to confirm it.
Worship at Carmel ended at 10:15 a.m. By 10:20 a.m., the first staffer with his phone out checked the analytics and announced that 1,110 devices were tuned live to the service. Do the math: If an average of two people watched on each device, that’s 2,200 — about what Carmel draws live on a typical Sunday morning.
At Carmel and elsewhere, faith leaders urged members to connect with a small group during the week. Many churches are scrambling to develop timely resources and reading material to share. In the Roman Catholic Church, it’s been deemed OK for parishioners to dispense with Mass for now.
Church leaders are also encouraging followers to keep up their tithes and offerings, whether through online giving or a check in the mail. (In one particularly inventive approach, Mayfield Memorial Missionary Baptist Church on West Sugar Creek Road in Charlotte created a drop-off box slot for drive-through donors.)
And they challenged congregants to find ways to get around social distancing: Call a shut-in. Text a neighbor. Write a check to a charity scrambling to care for those for whom the coronavirus pandemic is more than an inconvenience.
And tune in to the church website next Sunday. Likely same time, same place.
Ken Garfield spent 12 years as faith and values reporter at The Charlotte Observer and 12 as communications guy at Myers Park United Methodist Church. Now he’s a freelancer writing for charitable causes. Reach him at garfieldken3129@gmail.com.
CMS expected to restore original spring break
With Gov. Roy Cooper announcing that public schools statewide will be closed effective immediately, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is expected to revert to its original spring break, a school board member tells The Ledger.
Break was originally scheduled April 13-17, with the previous Friday (April 10) listed as a holiday (Good Friday) and the prior Thursday (April 9) listed as a teacher workday. On Friday night, though, the board voted to move spring break to March as a way to close schools because of the threat of the coronavirus. Cooper’s executive order, announced Saturday afternoon, makes that schedule change obsolete.
Board member Sean Strain said he predicts the board will vote 9-0 to restore the previous break. Some CMS families plan vacations around the school calendar, which is being thrown into chaos by the coronavirus.
South End puts the ‘social’ in ‘social distancing’
If a lot of Charlotte is worried about the coronavirus, the concern wasn’t evident Saturday in South End. It looked like a big day out. A Ledger reader sent in this photo Saturday afternoon from Suffolk Punch …
… and the bar Lost & Found posted a photo on Instagram of wall-to-wall drinkers celebrating St. Patrick’s Day (photo since deleted):
… at about the same time Gov. Roy Cooper issued an order banning gatherings of groups of more than 100 people. The guv said:
Today, I’m issuing an executive order to stop mass gatherings of more than 100 people across our state. As you know, we issued this as guidance Thursday. However, despite this guidance, several venues continued their events. So today’s order makes it mandatory.
This is a risk we cannot tolerate. …
The people of our state are taking this seriously, and we need concert promoters and event organizers to do the same.
Restaurants and retail excluded: Cooper’s executive order does not apply to “normal operations at airports, bus and train stations, medical facilities, libraries, shopping malls or centers, or other spaces where more than one hundred (100) persons are gathered. It also does not include office environments, restaurants, factories, grocery stores or other retail establishments.”
Violation of the order is a Class 2 misdemeanor, punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.
On Sunday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, told CNN: “I would like to see a dramatic diminution of the personal interaction that we see in restaurants and in bars. Whatever it takes to do that, that’s what I’d like to see.”
Local social media reaction:
The Ledger ramps up local coverage of coronavirus
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Wild video of food truck exploding in South End
WBTV reported that the food truck caught fire Saturday night on South Tryon Street near West Summit Avenue. There were no apparent injuries. No other details.
In brief:
More flights cut: American Airlines is cutting three international flights from Charlotte through May 6, the airline said Sunday. It’s part of a 75% cutback in international service associated with the plunge in air travel. The flights served London, Dublin and Manchester, England.
Cultural facilities closed: Blumenthal Performing Arts and the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture have suspended all public events. (Observer)
Latest coronavirus count: North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services reported 32 likely cases of coronavirus as of late Sunday morning, including four in Mecklenburg County. (WFAE)
Help for small businesses: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said small businesses can use cash deposited with the IRS to pay workers for sick leave. The federal government is expected to pass a law requiring businesses to pay workers who need time off because they or a family member are sick with the coronavirus. It has some protections for companies unable to afford that expense. (Bloomberg News)
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