Drive-In Churches Snuffed Out?
California Counties Attempting to Extinguish Them
April 16, 2020
Click image to play video from Pastor Wood. April 12, 2020
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God." — 2 Corinthians 1:3–4
What a blast from the past! Remember drive-in movies? Parking on a mound so you could have optimal viewing over the car in front of you and next to a pole with a large radio-like receiver with a hook to place on your window. Then, you'd manually roll up your window for optimal listening. Well — scores of churches across California have adapted to the state's restriction of assemblingon Sundays for worship with a drive-in style model. Some are using outdoor sound systems, and others are digitally streaming from inside their buildings while cars are parked in the church parking lot. A few are broadcasting on a radio frequency so vehicles can tune in to the station and listen to the pastor preaching while watching from the parking lot.
I've received many phone calls from pastors across the state asking for advice, counsel, encouragement, and help. Some of these calls are pastors asking how to handle pushback from the counties regarding this new drive-in church concept. There are a few California counties that have attempted to stop churches from participating in this — despite obeying their county ordinances — possibly yielding greater power by snuffing them out. Should California counties be able to close churches, yet still allow marijuana, smoke shops, and liquor stores to remain open?
Pastor Brenda Wood was one of those calls. Her husband is a Chaplain with the United States Military. They've been separated by COVID-19 for weeks. The couple was scheduled to meet in February, but because of borders being closed and his role in the Middle East, Pastor Wood has been leading the Riverside church alone.
She and her church have been feeding families in need. She's provided water, eggs, milk and toilet paper to meet the physical and spiritual needs of families in crisis.
With boldness like Deborah at 5'4", Pastor Brenda's zest for the church, life and her heart to comfort people in crisis with Jesus have her determined to continue meeting weekly, even after not meeting on Palm Sunday.
“I’m praying for open doors,” she said. “We’ll see what God does. I would ask pastors to pray and to really seek God about what they can do because we are supposed to be the light in the darkness,” she said. “In California, it’s getting really dark. Church United is the vehicle that we can use to come together and make our light shine. It’s time to stand up. It’s time to pray and find out what God would have you do."
Thankfully, even Attorney General William P. Barr at the Department of Justice has sided with churches during the pandemic and agrees that churches cannot be singled out. You can read the DOJ's statement here.
Watch the video of Pastor Brenda Wood sharing how she's comforting and leading the congregation to help those in their community. Pastor Wood and the church are living out 2 Corinthians 1:3–7.
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