For Genoa Baptist Church in Westerville, it’s been a full year of holding service outside, in the parking lot.
On Sunday, they continued that service and are seeing the same crowd size as when they first began.
The church started the drive-in service after COVID-19 forced them to shut their doors back in March of last year.
Pastor Frank Carl said the drive-in service has actually brought in more families for them, from all over central Ohio.
“Our theme in the beginning as you would recall was come as you are, but stay in your car, and so far one year there’s been a few hundred people who want to keep coming as they are, love staying in their car,” Pastor Carl said.
Pastor Carl said when they first came up with the idea, they discussed it on a conference call with Governor Mike DeWine and 300 other church pastors in Ohio.
He shared with them the plan and the skills of one of his team members, whose expertise is with transmitters and broadcast.
From that moment on, they provided transmitters for other churches who could not afford them, not only in Ohio but in other states.
He said their creativity reached as far as New Mexico, to Florida to Louisiana.
The church does have two indoor services for those who feel comfortable being in a building. However, for the families who would like to remain outside and in their cars, there’s no specific deadline of when the service is going to end.
“It’s God’s will, I believe that for all of humanity, where none of us are intended to be lone rangers and be islands to ourselves, we need interaction,” Pastor Carl said.