By Bryant Thigpen
Riverbend News
The coronavirus pandemic became a problem no one was really prepared to handle. No one had ever experienced a virus with the ability to shut down a country. Retail stores were forced to close or offer online services. Dining rooms were closed and moved to drive-thru or take out services. Business offices were closed and employees worked from home, and preachers had to figure out how to lead their congregation and preach through a pandemic.
Joseph Richardson, pastor of the Jasper Assembly of God, had only been in ministry for a little over a year before he faced the greatest challenge of his ministry. “It has definitely been one of the hardest things I’ve ever been through,” Richardson said. “And as a first time pastor, it’s really been an experience I hope I’ll never have to go through again.”
With so much uncertainty about the virus, Richardson knew their church had to make some changes to their weekly services. “Initially, we discussed how to handle this, and when I saw that my people were fearful of what may happen if we continued meeting inside, I closed up the building and we went to having one outside service a week,” he said. “That means we canceled Sunday night services, Wednesday night services and Tuesday morning prayer meetings for a whole month.”
While it was tough canceling many services and moving the church service outside, Richardson said the silver lining was the increased exposure from a social media platform. Richardson used the live feature on Facebook every Sunday morning for those who couldn't attend in person. “My church on any given Sunday can reach 200 people online, when our in-house attendance is only around 40-50.”
Known to them as the “Parking Lot Service,” Richardson said he enjoyed the opportunity to preach outdoors. “It was actually liberating. I enjoyed it. We had a good spot picked out that was right under a shade tree and the first few weeks was cool,” he said.
However, due to rising temperatures, they made the decision to move the services back into the sanctuary. “That last one was a scorcher and may have had something to do with us going back inside the next week,” he laughed.
After several weeks, the church resumed their Sunday night and Wednesday night services. However, there were greater challenges to come for Richardson. Everything came to a screeching halt when he was diagnosed with the coronavirus on Wednesday, July 8. The church was shut down completely while Richardson recovered from the coronavirus, but they were able to resume services again on Sunday, July 26.
“At the very onset of all of this when everything was just coming out about this, I believe that God spoke to me and said 'You don’t operate on fear, you operate on faith in the Son of God, Jesus Christ,'” he said. “When I’m tempted to fear even now those words comfort me. Hebrews 11:1, 'Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.'”
In addition to battling the coronavirus, Richardson has been challenged to overcome and lead his congregation through the pandemic. “Of course, one of the hardest things has been balancing between faith and fear, and letting my faith be stronger,” he said. “It’s been tough. But I think folks realize that I’m doing what I do because I love them.”
The Jasper Assembly of God is located at 3891 County Road 51 North in Jasper.