The Shadow
Lifeway Research reported that over 1,700 pastors leave the ministry every month, causing many churches to operate without pastors or shutter their doors all together. Since these numbers were reported in 2019, pre-COVID-19 pandemic, the Virginian Review sat down with some area pastors and church leaders to find out how these national statistics are affecting churches in the Alleghany Highlands.
Several churches that have lost pastors welcome available area pastors or ordained ministers to bring the weekly Sunday messages. Other services, i.e., Sunday School, Bible Study, and church business are handled by board members and/or other leaders in the churches.
The First Baptist Church, Clifton Forge, is one of those churches currently operating without a pastor. They rotate the Associate Minister, with other available area pastors and ordained ministers, to bring the weekly, Sunday message,” said Rev. Pamela Marshall, Associate Minister. “I know of several other churches that have been operating in this manner for the last two- three years,” she added.
Elder Gregory Moore, pastors two churches in two different states: Gospel Tabernacle Church of God in Christ, Covington, and First Church of God in Christ, White Sulpher Springs, WV. Moore had been pastoring GTAB for 13 years when, 1 st COGIC, found itself without a pastor. Moore was then appointed to also pastor 1 st COGIC, dubbing his new arrangement “one church in two locations.” Services are held at GTAB on the 1 st and 3 rd Sundays and 1st COGIC on the 2 nd and 4 th Sundays. His services are also streamed via Facebook Live, forming what is now known
as the hybrid church.
Rev. David Halsey also pastors two churches, in two different counties, but the same state: Mt. Olivet Baptist in Low Moor (Alleghany County) and Lapsley Run Baptist in Fincastle (Botetourt County). Halsey, who has been pastoring multiple churches for about 12 years, recently added
Mt. Olivet to his docket. He formerly pastored Rising Mt. Zion Baptist in Eagle Rock, along with Lapsley Run. He holds in-person church services at Mt. Olivet on the 2 nd and 4 th Sundays at 9:00 am and Lapsley Run at 11:00 am. He also ministers, via FB Live, under the umbrella of
“Ambassador for Christ.” His AFC Facebook Live services are the 1 st and 3 rd Sundays at 9:00 am.
He added the AFC virtual ministry to his docket during the COVID-19 pandemic. Though the pandemic has ended, he continues the AFC virtual ministry because of its continued success. According to Hasley, he garners 200-500 followers, weekly.
Since “a lot of people don’t want to be in crowds anymore,” Halsey believes these innovative ways of doing church provides him with opportunities “to reach those in church and those who may never step foot inside a church.” “I’m doing what we are called to do and that’s to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature,” added Halsey.
“I was able to take 100 people with me when I preached at New Dimensions Christian Fellowship, Covington, last Sunday,” said Halsey. “I wouldn’t have been able to do that without my two churches and my online members coming together,” Halsey added in conclusion.
Elder Leon R. Taylor, Sr., who has been pastoring the First Church of God in Christ, Clifton Forge, for over 35 years, had to shut down his church during the pandemic. “With the urgency of the situation and some prompting from my daughter, I thought I would try to do something via FB
Live, even though I’m old school,” said Taylor of his decision to step into the virtual world.
Because it was so effective and garnered such a strong following, once the church doors re-opened, he decided to stream his in-person services via FB Live. To accommodate this, the in- person service was moved from 11:00 am to 12:45 pm. “This way those returning from their 11:00 am services or sitting down to dinner are able to tune in and this seems to be very effective,” added Taylor. He also continues to do phases of his ministry via telephone: bible study and noon day prayer meetings, thus he calls his ministry “virtual” rather than “hybrid”.
“I believe we will always have an audience for the virtual church because there will always be people who are unable to come to church or either prefer not to under certain circumstances,” said Taylor. He explained that “most of our children are wired for the virtual ministry more so
than the in-house ministry because they are used to the screens and outreach from that standpoint.” “I think most of them are going to be reached by the methods and the means that are more familiar to them,” he added.
“Our voices are being heard around the world,” said Taylor. “Jesus told us to go into all the world but he didn’t say how.” Taylor believes Jesus “was letting us know that there were methods and means that we didn’t know about it the time.”
“I’ve stayed in the concept of the local church even when I wasn’t’ physically in the church. With my love for Christ and my love for the Church, I couldn’t let him down just because we had a condition that was new and different for us. I pushed my way through to find a means by which I could continue ministry and that would be effective for the times we were living in. It’s
a matter of dedication, drive, and faithfulness to God to do whatever it takes to keep the gospel going,” said Taylor in conclusion.
There a couple of churches in the area that don’t seem to have been affected by the national numbers and have continued to grow. Overall, a couple of churches have shuttered their doors but most are continuing to operate using a number of innovative ideas; from rotating area ministers into pulpits, pastoring multiple churches, or adding hybrid or virtual services to their regular in-person services.
