Houses of worship back to in-person services

Uncertain times put the importance of faith to the test in churches and synagogues

By CLARE GELICH Intern

Covid-19 forced Baldwin houses of worship to reimagine how they connect with their communities, which resulted in many adapting to remote and hybrid services to keep faith and religion alive.

During the height of Covid-19, the pandemic sent houses of worship online, but now, congregations are primarily in-person. Many churches and synagogues shifted to virtual services to ensure proper health precautions and social distancing. Some buildings temporarily shut down, while certain places asked members to check their Facebook page and regularly check their emails for updates.

In 2020, former Governor Andrew Cuomo instructed churches to remain open for private prayer and maintained proper Covid precautions, such as social distancing and people congregating. Most houses of worship now are hybrid with an emphasis on in person services. Pastor Isaac Badraco of One Life Christian Church said his congregation provides members access to an app via their website OneLifeLI.com, with streaming available on Facebook and YouTube.

“The world has changed so much that people have allowed themselves the openness of mind to do these things online, and it’s been really, really helpful for us,” Badraco said. “We can have last minute meetings online, we can jump on a quick FaceTime or Zoom call or Teams meeting and take care of our pastoral duties.”

One Life Christian Church holds online prayer and Bible studies midweek and hybrid Sundays for mass and regular service. During the last three years, Badraco said there has been a recurring theme of shutting down the church with an aim toward mental health resources, including grief counseling and therapy.

Since members desired face-to-face experiences at houses of worship for faith and religious reasons, the First Presbyterian Church of Baldwin, which is currently led by Reverend Russ Roth, has invited congregants to join hybrid services on Sundays at 9:30 a.m.

“It’s really proven that it’s good to be able to offer it because it does let people stay connected,” Roth, who runs services in the sanctuary, said about hybrid services. “The whole online thing doesn’t mean people have to be separate on interacting disconnected, it actually means they can actually be more a part of something instead of less. So I think it is important to hang on to that concept.”

“Worship is malleable. And we can adapt,” Mary Jane Dessables, the current clerk of session at First Presbyterian Church, who leads online services, said. “We can adapt to different situations and deal with things in different ways. We learned that worship can take different forms and different ways of expressing our love for God and our prayers to Him.”

Following Cuomo’s executive order allowing houses of worship to resume inperson services in 2020, the South Baldwin Jewish Center shifted to hybrid services and Jeff Barkan, co-president of the center, said they went to hybrid services with “those comfortable, seated with masks mandated and in alternate rows.”

“One side of the sanctuary was used for evening services and the other for Saturday morning services,” Barkan said in a statement. “Those that were not comfortable were and continue to attend via Zoom.”

The South Jewish Baldwin Center, which is affiliated with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, would suspend services when authorities banned public assembly. The Jewish center continues working tirelessly to keep the shul running in a now-hybrid setting.

St. Christopher’s Church hosted online services before, which made it easy for people to use Zoom during the pandemic because they have become used to it. However, Father Johnny Mendonca said they’re slowly returning to in-person service, but with a lack of emphasis on finances. It aims to build from where the church is now, with various structural struggles, church families in need and a desire to support the culture shift financially.

“Church is a place where people come to strengthen their faith to be with others – to journey together on a call where we all look up to a great promise of heaven,” Mendonca, who detailed what he learned over the last three years, said. “So Covid has surely been interrupted or a break from our journey, our call. It has been a struggle because church is not. People just come with hope for a new start to continue. They come with struggles with joy and suffering with happiness.”

Mendonca mentioned that those interested in watching live-streams of the services can visit the church’s website StChrisBaldwin.org for further information.

“More than ever, we are in need of faith,” Badraco said. “We need to believe in something. We need to trust in something – that uncertainty and of the pandemic, the Covid-19 era demonstrated to us as believers and in particular our community that we have to hope for something.”