How are the churches of southern California handling the quarantine? – this was the question of Olga Avetisova (further О.А.) to the head pastor of Montebello church, Valeriy Olegovich Konopelkin (V.К.)
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О.А. Valeriy Olegovich! Your church is one of the farthest churches in southern California. Tell us: how you are surviving in the midst of the pandemic?
V.К. As you probably know, when the coronavirus came to California, it hit southern part of the state the most especially the Los Angeles and the surrounding region. Today, according to statistics, the infections of the Los Angeles and the surrounding areas is ten times higher than in other regions of California. In addition, the mortality rate also exceeds other places. However, that has not affected our church members and every one of them is safe and sound. Of course, we are all sitting home on a lockdown in compliance with our government and the state leadership.
When there was an announcement of a total restriction came it was very sudden to us, however, we already had online streaming and after some deliberation, we decided not to change anything. We were thinking about possibly recording the sermons at home or considering other alternatives to be uploaded later, but we decided not to change the regular format of our service. On Sundays, there is a small team consisting of the worship band, the operator, and myself, and we are able to have a relatively normal church service which is significantly reduced. We have as we call the “congregational” singing led by the worship band with words shown on the screen. After that, I preach, and that is how instead of a regular two-hour service we have one-hour service, but nevertheless, we still have that.
When the quarantine was officially announced, I created a Viber chat group. Up until that point, I was not very familiar with Viber, however, I heard that its possible to create large groups and send messages to church members. At first, I was told that there is a limit of only 50 people which would have been problematic because our church consists of 100 people, but then I found out that its possible to add more, and I practically gathered the entire church together on the Viber group. It is now possible to send information to everyone, to share prayer requests, and address the entire church at the same time. That is how we are trying to survive during these difficult conditions.
О.А. Valeriy Olegovich, during this period, many people are losing their jobs. What is the situation of your church in this regard? Are there people who found themselves in this difficult condition? Are you able to gather this type of information with the purpose of helping those in need? How well are you personally doing in that?
V.К. I try to call all of the church members at least once a week and ask how they are doing. They get to hear me on Sundays, but I don’t hear them, and that is why I try to call them and ask. As far as I know, about 50% of the people in our church lost their jobs.
Since I work in an airport, I had a job almost for this entire time. However, after almost all of the flights have ceased, I am now just like many others who sit home for the second week now. My wife is a nurse, and as you can imagine she has a lot of work to do. Thanks to her job, we are able to manage it.
О.А. Are there any families that you know of where everyone lost their jobs?
V.К. No, I have not heard of anyone of ours who is faced with that. At least one family member is working. No one is in need of bread. Praise God that He does not forsake us.
О.А. Praise God indeed! God does not forsake His children! Tell us, this quarantine, this pandemic: what lessons are you personally, as a pastor learned from this for the future?
V.К. This quarantine demonstrated that in reality the person does not need much. We had a lot of our usual demands, we spend our lives and so much of our times pursuing so many secondary things, we work a lot, we gain possessions without which we would be totally be fine. The Scriptures tell us that if we have a covering, we are to be thankful to God.
For me, this pandemic indicates that the Lord is near. That the global events around the world are vividly demonstrating that the coming of Christ is imminent. In light of this, everyone can draw their own conclusions. Usually I preach sequentially, and before the pandemic hit, we began the epistle of Romans. However, when this calamity came upon us, I took a break and for now I am preaching about the signs of the coming of Christ, about the readiness of the church, and how every one of the church members must grow strong in the faith.
О.А. One more question regarding the communication with church members under extreme circumstances. Are you planning to make any future changes? Today many say that this was just he first pandemic, but not the last, and that in the future we can expect similar calamities that are worse and bigger in scope. How do you think pastors should prepare for such times? Is there a need to change the communication methods with the church members?
V.К. Certainly, they must change, and they already changed in our midst. That is why we created a Viber group for quick spread of information, to encourage the members through the Scriptures, and much more. The technology is developing so rapidly that many times we are not able to keep up with it. However, we need to take full advantage of it and I hope that soon something new will be developed. We are cautious about transitioning to meeting on ZOOM because I heard that this program is vulnerable to hackers. For now, we are spreading the information through Viber.
О.А. What is your encouragement to our listeners and readers?
V.К. Well, the encouragement is very simple: The Lord controls the entire situation. The Lord knows what is happening in the world, in the United States, and in other places, what is happening in our families, as well as in our hearts. We can trust Him in everything and not be overly anxious about the future. The Lord tells us to cast our cares upon Him, and He will take care of everything.”
Olga Avetisova
Head of the Information Department
