Sara Sandstrom, Nederland. People join a religious community or go to church for different reasons. Some go for the social and community aspect. Some go because they want to feel closer to God. Some think they will become a better person, and some want comfort in difficult times. For some it is tradition, and they want that tradition to be a part of their children’s lives. 

No matter the reason for going to church, actively participating in a church and being part of a congregation is very important for many people. When Covid became a part of our lives, churches like schools and many businesses had to close their doors. They had to find new ways of connecting with their congregations. New ways of having a service or mass were started. New ways of meeting the needs of their parishioners were developed.

In Nederland, St. Rita’s Catholic Church, Nederland Community Presbyterian Church (NCPC) and Calvary Chapel all have made adjustments while at the same time continuing to be active congregations.

St. Rita’s

When the general public became aware of Covid-19, all three churches stopped having services for a short time. As soon as restrictions on public gatherings were allowed, St. Rita’s began having drive-up services using an FM transmitter (88.3 FM). They have now resumed indoor services with the FM transmitter for those who prefer to stay in their vehicles. 

Indoor services look different than in pre-Covid days. They follow specific instructions from the Denver Archdiocese and Boulder County Public Health. They started with 10 people in the sanctuary until the county approved more. Now on some Sundays they will have 40 people in the church. Deacon Chris Byrne says, “We are truly lucky to have the space that we have so we can separate.” He also says that there is no procession to the altar during the service. The musicians are separated, and certain pews are blocked off. There is hand sanitizer for everyone to use and masks are required. As with all the churches, the sacrament of communion looks different as well. 

St. Rita’s Sunday Mass is recorded and posted every week on their website to reach people who can not come to the church or chose not to attend. 

St. Rita’s Catholic Church is located at 326 Colorado Highway 119 in Nederland. You can find more information at their website, https://saintrita-church.com/. Services are at 9:30 a.m. every Sunday morning and Deacon Chris says, “All are always welcome.”

Nederland Community Presbyterian Church

Nederland Community Presbyterian Church, also known as the little brown church with the bell, has been recording services and posting them on YouTube since the beginning of April.

Prior to Covid, NCPC was posting the audio recordings of the sermons for their many summer members who wanted to stay connected with the church during the winter months. It was a pretty seamless transition to record an entire service and then post it. Pastor Hansen Wendlandt assembled a small worship team to pull together music, scripture reading, a children’s message, prayer and the sermon. During the passing of the peace people are encouraged to text a friend or another member of the congregation to greet them and stay connected. 

Daniel Herman has been the pianist at NCPC for over eight years now. He is a gifted musician who brings in all genre of music to fit the scripture and theme of the service. Daniel has also been instrumental on the tech side of the services by doing all the editing and adding the hymn lyrics so people can sing along at home. 

NCPC also has drive-in church services the first Sunday of every month starting at 10 a.m. Pastor Hansen stands outside in the garden so people can see him, and the musicians are inside. All the audio is connected, and people sit in cars and tune into 88.3 FM or they can sit nearby socially distanced and participate in the service. The radio signal reaches up to 200 feet from the building. Pastor Hansen says that he is grateful for the help from the folks at St. Rita’s for setting the radio transmission up to make this possible.

The leaders at NCPC continue to analyze and review the situation, but in the near foreseeable future they will not be holding services in the church sanctuary. 

NCPC holds their Bible study, book club, Social Justice Working Group and fellowship time all through Zoom. Although most of their summer mission work was canceled, they continue to do their outreach in the community, to the homeless and cutting and delivering wood to people who need the assistance. Pastor Hansen says, “Different world, same faith.”

You can find NCPC’s recorded services on their website http://nederlandcpc.org/ and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/hansenwendlandt. The church is located at 210 North Jefferson in Nederland and services are at 10 a.m. if they are on-line or drive-up 

Calvary Chapel

Calvary Chapel started up services again on April 10, 2020 when Pastor Doug Gibney began a livestream video through the church’s Facebook page. Ted Zychlinski, Tom Pratt and Maria Pratt were also part of the livestream worship from home. The morning Bible study was continued through Zoom. 

At the end of May the church was completely disinfected and sanitized, and they continue to do this weekly. Doors opened for services on June 7 with limited capacity, social distancing, hand sanitizer available and masks required. Calvary Chapel did eliminate greeting time and the after church social time. 

For communion, the elements are separated in small plastic cups and distributed. Singing is part of the service with the worship team spread out from the rest of the congregation. Calvary Chapel has also brought back very small groups of their women’s Bible study in the last month. 

The members of Calvary Chapel are thankful to be back although half to less than half are attending services, compared to pre-Covid days. 

Calvary Chapel is located at 275 West Second Street, in Nederland. For more information visit their website at http://calvarychapelnederland.org/. According to their website services are held at 11 a.m. Sunday mornings.

Churches bring support, community and faith. It is a vital part of many people’s lives. To continue during the Covid pandemic churches and houses of worship are required to be flexible, creative and mindful. They need to think out of the box, or church, to stay connected with people. A church can be that support to the lonely during this time and help bring calm and peace to our lives. 

(Originally published in the October 8, 2020, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)