The Coshocton County Beacon July 8, 2020 | Page 2

2 • The Beacon July 8, 2020 226 Main Street Coshocton, Ohio 43812 Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone] OFFICE HOURS Monday - Friday 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM NEWS/EDITORIAL DEADLINE THURSDAY AT NOON PROOF/AUCTION AD DEADLINE THURSDAY AT NOON DISPLAY AD DEADLINE FRIDAY AT NOON Call 220-201-9679 CLASSIFIED AD DEADLINE FRIDAY AT 11 AM Call 740-622-4237 All deadlines subject to change for holidays. PUBLISHER’S STATEMENT THE COSHOCTON COUNTY BEACON is published weekly by AloNovus Corp., 226 Main Street, Coshocton, OH 43812. All rights reserved by AloNovus Corp. AloNovus Corp. does not necessarily support the opinion of writers. Mailed at Periodicals Postage Pricing Permit No. 25408 at Coshocton, OH, 43812. Postmaster, send address changes to The Coshocton County Beacon, 226 Main Street, Coshocton, OH 43812. Address changes may be sent via email to addresschange@ coshoctoncountybeacon.com. To request free in-county delivery of The Coshocton County Beacon, visit our office at 226 Main Street in Towne Centre, Coshocton to fill out a requestor card. You can also request free in-county delivery of The Beacon online at www.iwantmybeacon.com. MARK FORTUNE PUBLISHER [email protected] JOSIE SELLERS EDITOR [email protected] NANCY FORTUNE CIRCULATION [email protected] Follow us on Facebook The Beacon is published by AloNovus Corp. © Copyright 2020 BF-00471218 Several churches starting to welcome congregations back for Sunday services By Tara Gracyk For months places have been closed including churches, and it hasn’t been easy. Dave Boots, pastor of the Coshocton Church of the Nazarene, said within the first couple of weeks of the pandemic, he was frustrated. “People were getting scared, attendance was going down and I was getting frustrated,” he said. Similarly, Pastor Mike Jansen of the Coshocton Christian Tabernacle said, “Our church, because churches were exempt, we decided to stay open, but we dropped to a core of 10% of our population. Since we were averaging around 30 people in the services instead of the regular 160, we went to online services.” Both the Nazarene church and New Life Ministries also chose to hold services virtually and utilized Facebook Live and other means to broadcast services and maintain contact with their congregations during the closure. Each church did what they could to stay connected and encouraged. Some pastors and their church staff sent letters, emails, newsletters, weekly bulletins and made phone calls. Boots and the staff at the Nazarene church, for instance, went through their church directory and made calls daily File For months places have been closed including churches, and it hasn’t been easy, but they are now starting to reopen. in an effort to ensure that most, if not all, regular attendees were contacted at least once during the two months they were closed. The closure also presented each church with the opportunity to be creative. The Tabernacle, for example, started a daily online devotional and began holding parking-lot services where church and community members gathered in the parking lot and participated in the service from the safety of their vehicles. The Tabernacle also chose to view the closure as a gift to do some work in the church and thus began some construction, made storage rooms and repainted the sanctuary. In addition, the Nazarene church utilized the virtual meeting app, Zoom, so Sunday school classes could continue to meet, and Boots said it was so successful that it has continued even after reopening. “What really encouraged me, even when we couldn’t have church services, is people continued to support the church financially. I know we support our missionaries on a monthly basis, and some churches had people stop giving. The finances that have continued to come in have allowed us to keep supporting our missionaries and pay the bills. I don’t harp on money, but I am thankful people have continued to give and support in that area,” said Mark Granger, pastor of New Life Ministries. Likewise, Jansen said, “Finances are down a little bit, but the special offering has been off the charts.” Boots said the biggest encouragement he got during this time was when the Lord put on him a spirit of rest. “Resting in peace in the Lord calmed my frustration, and I went from 5 1/2 hours of sleep a night to more around eight,” he said. Jansen said his wife, family and church board were a huge encouragement to him. “I am really blessed to have a group of people who we have a lot of fun together — we respect each other — and who are problem-solvers that love the Lord. One of the benefits of going to church is that you get to do life with others, and they won’t let you stay in the doldrums.” Jansen said believers can always find peace in God. “It is always discouraging to look at the world around you. The news media pumps you so full of fear and concern and distrust. But for a Christian it’s like, ‘Oh well, I lost my business, See CHURCHES Page 3 We’re proudly working together With you and for you BF-00484168