Church of the Pines holds public park event to meet in person for first time since pandemic shut down

Published 2:00 pm Sunday, August 30, 2020

Several hundred people gathered Sunday at Bergfeld Park’s Centene Stage amphitheater to hear a message about God’s plan for his people from Les Harvey, pastor of Church of the Pines.

People sat every other row and spread out as far as the grassy hills outside the stage seating area to worship together in person for the first time since mid-March when Church of the Pines switched to virtual services.

“We’ve had 24 Sundays of online services,” said service team member Hope Cooper. “We are a virtual community, but getting together today you can feel the energy and the joy of the Lord.”

Church of the Pines launched Feb. 11, 2018, and met on Sundays in the Tyler Rose Regal Stadium 14 until the COVID-19 shutdown. Starting on Sunday, Sept. 13, the church will meet at a new location in the Times Square shopping center, 5201 S. Broadway Ave. Suite 250. Services will be held at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.

“The purpose of this event was to model church outside of the walls of a building,” said Harvey about the public park event. “We are excited to share our Sunday service with the community.”

Manny Diaz provided a Spanish translation to Pastor Harvey’s message, and Spanish lyrics were included on a digital screen during worship songs.

The crowd included a diverse mix of ages, ethnicities, abilities and family types. Masks were encouraged and worn by many, but were not mandatory.

Tommi Groom said she has attended Church of the Pines since “day one,” while Kaitlyn Carroll’s attendance at the park was her first time to be a part of the Church of the Pines community in person.

“I’ve been watching the services online for four or five weeks,” Carroll said.

The park service closed with a call to baptisms. A handful of people took to the stage for a water baptism.

When the service was over, people stayed to purchase lunch from nearby food trucks and to enjoy the park’s other amenities.