GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — (Grand Haven Tribune) An order to extend Michigan’s stay-home restrictions through mid-May won’t keep everybody home on Sunday morning.
Trinity Reformed Church of Grand Haven will host a drive-in church service at 10 a.m. in its parking lot, 1330 S. Ferry St.
The church’s pastor emphasized that people are required to stay in their cars with windows up and that all social distancing requirements will be observed.
“I don’t know how that will work if the weather warms up, but it’s not supposed to do so for a while,” the Rev. Randy Bremmer said.
The church is also conducting a no-contact food drive to replenish its pantry. Bremmer said attendees may place a bag of food on the ground outside their car and volunteers will pick up the bags.
The church pantry can use the following items: cereal, cleaning products (Lysol, multipurpose cleaner), granola bars, fruit snacks, pudding snacks, laundry soap, crackers, shampoo and conditioner, spaghetti or other noodles or pasta, body wash, bar soap, soup, Spaghetti Os, hand soap, pancake mix, toilet paper, syrup, dish soap, pasta sauce, toothpaste, peanut butter, feminine hygiene products, jelly, deodorant, packaged sides (potatoes, rice, pasta), canned fruit or vegetables, applesauce, and canned meat.
Trinity Reformed Church members suggested a drive-in church service so that they could have some form of gathering for Easter, but a health department recommendation caused church officials to reconsider it.
Bremmer said they contacted local police and the state Attorney General’s office, and reviewed the governor’s executive order prior to Easter before deciding on an Easter drive-in service at the church. Then, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer executed a more restrictive order the Thursday before Easter and the county’s health department sent an email to local churches recommending against any type of drive-up services.
Church officials again reviewed the orders and recontacted authorities, and were told they could go ahead with the services as long as they were observing social distancing. The health department letter was a recommendation, not a ruling, Bremmer said.
So, starting last Sunday, Bremmer; his wife, Tracy; and the church’s music director, Wally De La Fuente, conducted a service from a small stage set up in the church parking lot. They used an FM transmitter so attendees could pick up the sound on their car radios, and a microphone and speakers to broadcast the sound.
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“We did the music karaoke-style,” Bremmer said. “We did a message. We did not do an offering.”
The pastor said that any offerings or donations could be made on the church’s website at www.trc-gh.org. People can also go to the website to see the previous week’s recorded service. A livestream of the service on Facebook can be found by searching for Trinity Reformed Church.
Bremmer said hosting the in-person service, even with people in their cars, is uplifting.
“People get to see each other through their windows and they kind of enjoy that,” he said.
People also react to parts of the service by flashing their headlights or honking their horns.
Bremmer said there were 36 cars with about 60 people at the April 19 service. The cars were parked in every other spot, but he said that is not necessary if the windows are kept closed.
A neighbor from across the street drove over and thanked Bremmer for doing the service.
“He said, ‘I could hear it and I worshipped with you from my front porch,’” Bremmer said.
The pastor said that Trinity Reformed Church never livestreamed services prior to the Stay Home order because he felt the market was saturated. However, views of the recorded services and the livestreams combined are showing that they are reaching 200 people a week, he said.
“We’re thinking it’s reaching more people than our in-person services before COVID-19,” he said.
Bremmer said they plan to continue livestreaming once churches are allowed to have services in person again.
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