Local churches turn to web to reach members

With the late Thursday announcement from Gov. Gavin Newsom that residents must stay home to prevent the spread of COVID-19, many churches in the Galt and Lodi areas still want to get their messages out to their congregations.

For many, that means transitioning from inperson services to online video conferences.

Senior Pastor Mark Price at St. Paul Lutheran Church, said he and other pastors have begun to pray every three hours at home, creating “10minute devotionals” which they have uploaded to Facebook and Zoom for their congregation members to watch during this time of uncertainty.

“We’re trying to give them something else to think about,” Price said. “We want to be able to tell them it’s OK to do things, and it’s OK to go outside and not spend 10 hours on the couch. Our devotionals kind of give them a sense of reassurance.”

For Sunday services, Price said he has already begun going live on social media. Last week’s service was a bit awkward, he said, as he was speaking to an empty sanctuary on camera.

He is hoping this weekend’s service will be a little better, as he was inspired by a priest in Italy to create a makeshift congregation.

“I’ve asked everyone to send me a selfie,” he said. “I’m going to put each one on an 11-by-17 printout and then put them on all the pews. It’s a nice way for them to know I can see them.”

Other online amenities the church will be providing include Bible studies, which Price would like to conduct twice per week from the pre-school chapel.

He’d also like to get his congregation members speaking to one another in a group setting as well, so he’s planning on creating a “Coffee Hour,” a video-conferencing session to talk about anything and everything.

Price said he had planned to create an “adulting” class for his teenage members, which explains how to live on their own after college.

Now that all services are moving online, he hopes to have his children film some adulting videos with him that he can post on the church’s Facebook and Zoom pages.

Horizon Church is offering simulated live services at both of its campuses on Sunday.

The church will stream its services, and have pastors on hand to interact with church members as they watch.

“We’re going to go ahead and record the sermon ahead of time,” Pastor Jared Huntsinger said.

The stream will begin with announcements and other information, then share the pre-recorded sermon, and then open to questions and feedback.

“Our hope is that we can continue this way for the near future,” Huntsinger said.

With about 400 to 500 regular attendees at services each Sunday — and closer to a thousand at Easter — the pandemic has had a big impact on Horizon, he said.

“Most of our members are staying home, even down to the small group level,” he said.

The church is currently working on ways for small Bible study groups to continue meeting. Huntsinger led a group on Wednesday night, where members watched a video at the same time, and then discussed it via group text.

In the meantime, Horizon is brainstorming ideas to stay connected with other churches, such as First Baptist of Lodi.

“All the churches are kind of having to get creative,” Huntsinger said.

Horizon has launched a Horizon at Home section on its homepage, www.horizonweb.org, that includes links to information, livestreams, its social media sites and other resources.

The church is also keeping the larger community in mind, especially small businesses that may be struggling right now. For example, the Galt church normally buys doughnuts to share with members after each service. For now, as long as Fancy Donuts in Galt is still open, church members can drop in and get doughnuts courtesy of the church.

“Everybody right now has to keep thinking outside the box on how we can continue to support each other and how we can rally together,” Huntsinger said.

Other churches offering streaming services this weekend:

• Bear Creek Community Church: Bear Creek Community Church will host CHURCH AT HOME at 9 a.m. Sunday. Find more information, including links to Facebook and YouTube sites where the service will be streaming, at

www.bearcreekchurch.com.

• Buddhist Church of Lodi: The Buddhist Church of Lodi is closed to all public and private services. However, Buddhist Churches of America has links to recordings of Juseige, Sanbutsuge and Junirai at

www.buddhistchurchesofamerica.org.

• Calvary Bible Church: Calvary Lodi will be joining its sending church, Calvary Englewood, for live streaming services at 8 and 9:45 a.m. Sunday at englewood.thecalvary.org.

Information regarding next week’s services will be announced at www.facebook.com/calvarylodi.

• Emanuel Lutheran Church: Emanuel Lutheran will offer an 8:15 a.m. or 11 a.m. service titled “Choosing Faith over Fear!” on its website, www.EmanuelLodi.com, on Sunday.

• Episcopal Church of St. John the Baptist: St. John’s is sharing sermons online at www.stjohnsoflodi.org.

• Fairmont Seventh-day Adventist Church: Fairmont plans to stream a prerecorded service at www.fairmontsda.org at 10:45 a.m. Sunday.

• First Baptist Church of Lodi: First Baptist has launched its “Online Experience” at www.fbclodi.org.

The home page links to a special web portal where church members can watch video, interact with one another, and get information about the church’s activities during the pandemic.

Members can also receive emails with Sunday’s service.

• Grace Presbyterian Church: Grace Presbyterian will livestream services this Sunday. For more information, visit www.gracelodi.org/livestream.

• The Home Church: Find information about the church’s activities and three options for how to watch this Sunday’s 10:30 a.m. livestreamed service a t www.thehomechurch.net/coronavirus.

• Lifeline Church: Lifeline is livestreaming at 10 a.m. on Sundays at

www.facebook.com/lifelinelodi and @lifelinelodi on Instagram. Pastor Elliot Jones is also sharing live messages of encouragement throughout the week.

• Lodi Community Church: Members can find information, pre-recorded sermons and links to social media, where additional information will be posted, at www.lodicommunity.org.

The church will livestream a message from its pastor at 11 a.m. Sunday.

• Remedy Church: Remedy will offer a livestream each Sunday throughout the pandemic. For more information, visit www.remedylodi.com.

• St. Anne’s Catholic Church: Catholics have received a dispensation to miss Mass, and all daily and Sunday Masses in the Diocese of Stockton have been suspended. Broadcasted Masses, daily readings in text and audio formats, a collection of prayers, and other resources are available at www.stocktondiocese.org/spiritualresources. “Concedo una dispensa a los miembros de los Fieles Católicos de la obligación de asistir a Misa los domingos. Esta dispensa continuará hasta nuevo aviso,” Obispo Myron J. Cotta dijo. Los recursos en español, incluidas las transmisiones de La Misa y las oraciones, están disponibles en www.stocktondiocese.org/co ronavirus-2019-spanish.

• St. Paul Lutheran Church: St. Paul Lutheran is offering streaming services this Sunday, with an English stream at 10 a.m. Prayers with the pastor are held on Facebook daily at 6 and 9 a.m., noon, and 3, 6 and 9 p.m. For more information and links to the livestreams, visit www.stpaullodi.com. Un servicio religioso en español se llevará a cabo en línea a las 12:30 p.m. Domingo.

• United Congregational Christian Church: United Congregational will provide online worship each Sunday until further notice. For more information or to view the videos, visit www.facebook.com/ucccLodiCA.

• Vinewood Community Church: Vinewood is offering online services this weekend. Visit www.vinewoodchurch.com for information.

Any Lodi, Galt, Lockeford or other local churches that are streaming their services may email wesb@lodinews.com or kyla@lodinews.com. Email must include the name of the church, the internet address where livestreams or pre-recorded services can be viewed, and the times of any live services. Spanish language information is welcome.