On Friday, May 9, a group of 13 Presbyterians — and one from the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) tradition — gathered on Zoom at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time. Nothing about the gathering stood out as particularly remarkable. Participants exchanged greetings and brief life updates and then joined together for a short worship service. The energy was comfortable and familiar, like it had been done hundreds of times before — because it had. What made that Friday’s prayer service remarkable was, in fact, how ordinary it was. As of that Friday’s gathering, this group has gathered every week for morning prayer for five years.
Karen Wellington, a ruling elder from First Presbyterian Church of Goshen, Indiana, who described herself as a more recent joiner, said she tries to never miss. “From the beginning, everyone was friendly and kind, welcoming and gracious,” she said. “When I initially started attending, I was bottle feeding my calf and the group was always anxious to see her growth progress.”
In May 2020, the world was deep in the throes of the Covid pandemic. Many places were under shelter-in-place orders. Grocery trips and doctor’s appointments had become fraught with risk. Frontline workers were laboring around the clock to save lives. Everyone else stayed home, cut off from the vestiges of in-person community life in the name of public safety.
Amid this turmoil, pastors and other church staff were left to minister to their people in whatever ways they could — through livestreamed worship services in empty sanctuaries and daily prayer emails and video visits with struggling congregants. It was a time of profound innovation and collective creativity, where virtual connection became a lifeline instead of simply a daily convenience.
The pandemic took a heavy toll on many people, and church staff were no exception — doing their work in isolation, with few resources and no precedent. A small group of Presbyterian leaders recognized the deep need for professional faith leaders to have their own source of community and support.
The Rev. Dr. Martha Moore-Keish, JB Green Professor of Theology at Columbia Theological Seminary, said the idea for weekly prayer started from a conversation she had with a Columbia alum, the Rev. Rob Jackson. Jackson learned the practice of morning prayer while in Company of New Pastors and reached out to Moore-Keish with a hunger to rekindle the discipline during Covid. The Presbyterian Association of Musicians was quick to add its support.
Others joined in the early organizing work: pastors including the Rev. Marci Auld Glass and the Rev. Lisa Schrott, director of music Karrie Rushing, along with the Rev. Dr. David Gambrell, the PC(USA)’s associate for worship.
An initial Zoom gathering was scheduled, and each participant invited colleagues and friends; it’s continued ever since. Others learned of the gathering by word of mouth and began to attend. Numbers grew to a few dozen people, most of whom participated regularly. Worshipers have included pastors, professors, church musicians, Christian educators and mid council leaders. Almost everyone is Presbyterian, but the gathering is open to others as well.
Participants attend from all across the country. Eventually, a second service was established on Monday mornings at 11 o’clock Eastern Time, to accommodate more folks in the Pacific time zone.
While the group initially used Word documents and PDFs to share liturgy and music, worship leaders quickly evolved to using slides. Volunteers take turns preparing the liturgy and music for the week. At the outset of the gathering, participants sign up to lead prayers and read Scripture. Thirty minutes later, they part ways with signs of peace and return to their in-person lives.
Five years on, Covid remains a public health issue. But most of the hallmarks of communal life have been re-established, including in-person worship and church events. Many congregations that began livestreaming services during the pandemic continue to do so as a way to reach those unable to attend in person. However, most purely virtual worship gatherings eventually stopped or faded in participation, the relics of a haunting moment in history.
For this group of Zoom worshipers, however, weekly gatherings remain a crucial ritual.
If you’re interested in learning more about the weekly prayer service or joining in, fill out this form.
Layton Williams Berkes, Communications Strategist, Interim Unified Agency (Click here to read original PNS Story)
Let us join in prayer for:
Rebecca Storti, Director, Meetings & Special Events, Board of Pensions
Keren Strothman, Mission Specialist II, Theology, Formation & Evangelism, Interim Unified Agency
Let us pray:
Loving God, you call us to reach out to the most vulnerable among us. Open our ears to hear their cries and give us wisdom as we seek to serve. Amen.
