Story by Charity Cohen
Video and Photos by Kirstyn Clark
Under the high-vaulted ceilings of Watts Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Raleigh, NC, Black church-goers stand all over the sanctuary with masked faces and lifted hands. The small, socially distanced choir of nine members sings a song that says:
“Sometimes discouraged but not defeated
Cast down but not destroyed
There are times I don’t understand
But I believe it’s turning around for me”
Members of congregation sway, wave their hands, and some even cry as the choir continues to sing. This type of faith and resillience is what Reverend Dr. Harry L. White, Jr., pastor of Watts Chapel Missionary Baptist Church, said has carried the Black church through centuries of oppression and hardship — and it has continued to carry them through the COVID-19 pandemic.
For many people, the Black church has been the backbone of Black community. A safehaven for community organizing, a cornucopia of resources, a breeding ground for connection and socialization, and a center for spiritual growth.
When the pandemic closed the churches doors last year, these institutions around the world were threatened with closures due to lack of financial support and engagement.
If an institution as vital to a community as the Black church, were to crumble under the pressures of the pandemic, how would the community suffer?
Many Black spiritual leaders say the Church will never fail- because it doesn’t have the opportunity to do that: It’s role is too vital, and churches like Watts Chapel and others found new ways to reach out: delivering sermons on Facebook and radio stations, holding services in parking lots while parishoners sat in their cars, teaming other with other organizations to provide feeding programs, vaccination clinics, and other missions projects.
“I think the cChurch is resilient, we’re strong,” White said. “I think there are few institutions as strong as the Black church in America. You pivot, you adjust and you demonstrate creativity and flexibility. So because of that, we’ll survive.”
Although, Watts Chapel now looks as full as it did before the pandemic, this wasn’t the reality for quite some time. There are about 56 pews in the church, and each pew was empty. Sunday after Sunday, White found himself preaching to an empty sanctuary, his only congregation, the listeners on the radio and streams from Facebook, YouTube and the church’s mobile app.
At the start of the pandemic, White remembers thinking, “Wow, this is taking over the world, we may need to start thinking about what we’re going to do as a church.” This sentiment was shared my religious leaders worldwide.
While churches fought to figure out ways to still provide for the community, most churches found that they were able to adapt to a virtual style of worship. But those who were more old-fashioned in their approach to church had a difficult time adapting, Bishop Harry L. Cohen, pastor of New Covenant United Holy Church and presiding prelate of The United Holiness Church of America, said.
Watt’s Chapel and New Covenant United Holy Church in Burlington, NC, adapting to a virtual format wasn’t difficult as they were already using some of those methods before the pandemic. Both churches offered live streams of their services through Facebook, Youtube and even local radio stations. The pastors say their media departments are advanced and are constantly looking to use technology to elevate the church-going experience.
“It’s as if God intentionally put us in a position to work to find out what we would do and we had to get out of our comfort zone of going up into the pulpit, and having the people come before us, now we’re having to go before the people in another venue,” Cohen said. “I think that’s because the Lord wants us to see that we have a creative ability, and he wants us to use that creative ability and it has enhanced a whole lot of ministry gifts.”
Glenn McNeill, member of Watts Chapel Missionary Baptist church, was among the church-goers who had to make the abrupt switch from attending church physically to attending virtually.
“For me, going to church on Sunday was how I would just close out the entire world and be able to be grounded spiritually, being able to connect with like-minded people, and just have awesome and great fellowship,” McNeill said
“For the last two plus years that was taken away, and to have what renewed your strength and your faith in humanity and a higher being, you know, not having that, it’s been a challenge.”
McNeill and his family used to dress up in their Sunday bests and head to church with the excitement of hearing the pastor share something with them that would give them strength and encouragement. Since his church went virtual during the pandemic, the McNeills came downstairs and gathered around the computer or television in their pajamas as it’s different, but its still church.
The church going experience was very different for the McNeills, though. Part of what made their Sunday experience was being able to fellowship with fellow members of Watts Chapel, both during service and after service. Seeing other parishioners worship and feel the presence of the Holy Spirit is what McNeill said he longed for during this period of isolation.
He also missed the being physically moved by the sounds of instruments and choir filling up the sanctuary.
“Sunday morning, Wednesday night, or church meeting, or choir rehearsal, is a connection that people look forward to,” Pastor White said. “So if you don’t have strong interpersonal connections, this has exacerbated loneliness for people and mental health issues with people because if you’re not connected.”
Many Black church leaders looked for creative ways to offer a space for fellowship and service for their members and the community at large.
Watts Chapel was able to collaborate with other churches and community outreach organizations coordinate fresh produce giveaways, school supply drives, feeding programs, vaccination clinics and other missions projects. They were even able to supply children in the community with laptops needed for their virtual schooling.
“Whenever there’s a crisis, there’s an opportunity,” White said. “You have to maximize opportunities in the midst of crises, to say, ‘Okay, what role can we play to be a blessing to people in this zip code, in this area, in this community’.”
New Covenant was able to find ways through outreach and service as well. They left gifts and care packages on member’s front doorsteps, as well as distributing masks to members of the church and greater community.
Cohen found a creative way to deliver his sermons to his church members and the community members as well.
He invited people to drive into New Covenant’s empty parking lot each Sunday at the time service started. He had his sound technicians set up microphones for the choir on the churches fron steps and speakers were set up all around the church’s perimeter
. His deacons and the media team would bring out a small pulpit for him to stand behind as he delivered a word in front of a packed parking lot. The congregation remained in their cars, rolled down their windows and seemed to feel a sense of togetherness.
Whenever Cohen said something in his sermon that excited the congregation, they would honk their horns to affirm his message. Cohen said this always made him smile and feel motivated to continue “feeding them the Word of God.”
This format of delivering a church service began at the beginning of the pandemic and didn’t end until the end of 2021 when CDC began lifting restrictions on masks and social distancing.
“People from a mile around heard [his Sunday sermons] and said, ‘We heard you, we went on our back porch, we kept hearing this voice coming through the window and we raised the windows,’.” Cohen said, giggling at the memory. “That was quite exciting to me to hear them say what they heard and, and experienced through it.”
Through all of the changes that their churches had to adjust to, both pastors say the pandemic gave them a unique opportunity to see the strength and faithfulness of their church members.
The streaming services have allowed Pastor White’s messages to reach people all around the world, resulting viewership in places as far as London and Kuwait. Bishop Cohen, has seen a steady influx of tithes and other monetary donations from members and non-members who stream his services online and in-person.
Now, members and religious leaders of the Black church are just excited to return to “close to normal” operations.
“Thinking about what is to come and what we just went through, you know, the Church will always be able to adapt and to overcome,” McNeill said. “A church is just a building, you know, what makes it special is the people that come together, to work together in a common cause and to fellowship with one another.”
It is with this understanding of the Black Church’s adaptibilty and signifiance to the community, Cohen knows the Black church will stick around through trials and tribulations.
“That kind of resilience is in the bloodstream of the majority of Black people because we’ve had to come through the roughest,” Cohen said emotionally. “That mixed with having a knowledge of the greatest power—you don’t have to have all of the money, you don’t have to have all of the fineries of life—but to have God on your side gives you that hard rubber ball resilience to keep bouncing back.”
