It took a bit of planning, as well as some construction, but amidst a time of separation and social distancing the team at River Oak Grace found a way to bring people back together.
This past Sunday, May 3 the Oakdale based church hosted its first drive-in worship service. The gathering was hosted at 9 a.m. with the lots opening at 8:30 a.m. A total of 88 cars drove in for attendance in the 110 spaces available.
“I don’t know, that by any means it was original to us,” Pastor Korey Buchanek said of the outdoor service.
The lead pastor shared he was aware of churches out of state that had begun to reintroduce church in a safe environment. Prior to announcing and hosting the event, Buchanek and his team worked closely with the City of Oakdale, as well as Stanislaus County to ensure all guidelines were being met.
An outdoor platform was built, allowing the pastor to be visible from all the parking spaces in the south lot. Cars were directed to park in every other space, to allow proper social distancing guidelines while attendees remained in their vehicles for the service.
“We took precautions to space the cars safely so that windows could be down and safely social distance,” the pastor said.
The ‘Drive-In Worship’ service is Phase 1 of three phases the church team has in place to ease people back onto the property for worship. Phase 2 will be use of the outdoor amphitheater, with proper distancing guidelines and Phase 3 will have them back in the building.
“We began having conversation of the three phases three to four weeks ago on logistics and needs to enable this to happen,” he said. “We knew the first week would give us a barometer of how safe people are feeling.”
Using a service through Ticket Link helped as well. Community members were encouraged to reserve their spot using the link via the church website. Buchanek said that the current 110 spaces is the most they can accommodate per worship service. Plans are in place to add a Saturday night service if demand increases. The drive-in services are limited to 45 minutes due to lack of public facilities for those in attendance.
“I think people just had a general sense of excitement, that they were able to just see one another,” he said of the kick-off event last Sunday. “Even though they couldn’t engage with one another, just to see each other and see their smiles and know they’re safe.”
Prior to the drive-in service, River Oak Grace has hosted – like many worship centers – an online worship. A format which the pastor shared has been both eye opening and enlightening.
“We have people all over the world that are tuning into our Sunday services that we’ve never had before,” he said, sharing the online worship has given them a stronger presence as a church than ever before.
“It’s a multiplication growth versus an addition growth that the church has known for years,” the pastor said of the increase in numbers of viewers since going online. “Now we find ourselves in a place of being unsure how they are finding us and how to follow up.”
Yet in a time of separation and distancing, it is a good problem to have.
“Overall, I would say things went really well,” he said of getting back in front for live worship.
Based on the initial response the church will continue to host the services each Sunday, until they are able to advance to Phase 2. The drive-in services are open to the public and are free to the community. For more information or to reserve a spot visit www.rog.church.
