Midwest City Church Among Few Places Of Worship To Reopen Sunday

Country Estates Baptist Church Pastor Steve Holland was happy to preach directly to his congregation and not just a camera on Sunday.

While the church continued its Facebook Live stream, about 100 worshipers showed up in person for two different services.

"One of the reasons why we chose to have services is because a lot of our churchgoers have been asking for it because they do very much feel like a family and they wanted to see each other," Holland said.

Among the safety precautions taken, the church was disinfected in between services. Masks, gloves and hand sanitizer were given out at the church entrance in addition to practicing social distancing. A distance of at least one pew in between worshipers was required.

"There's this idea, as a pastor, that I'm their shepherd," Holland said. "The responsibility of a shepherd is to feed his flock but also protect his flock. Both of those have to be weighed and considered."

Holland said he knows of a few churches in the area that were open Sunday.

The local Roman Catholic Archdiocese, United Methodist Church and most other faiths decided to keep their places of worship closed.

Southern Baptist churches are allowed to operate autonomously.

"Even though we were social distancing and not able to go up and shake hands, hug and stuff, just being able to see each other was a great victory," Holland said.

Moving forward, Holland says they have been on video conferences with Gov. Kevin Stitt throughout the process and will continue to evaluate their safety measures on a week-to-week basis.