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Churches cancel services, live stream sermons to protect members from coronavirus

A senior pastor at Lake Grove Presbyterian Church in Lake Oswego said churches are responding not out of fear but out of love for members of their congregation.

LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. — To keep people safe, churches all over the area streamed services online Sunday.

Unfortunately, not every church can live stream, so some canceled service altogether or emailed members their message.

Lake Grove Presbyterian Church in Lake Oswego typically has four services with hundreds of people. But Sunday, pews were empty except for some staff.

Instead, Reverend Dr. Mark McIlraith shared his sermon live on camera. The church live streams every Sunday, so the technology was already set up.

Credit: Morgan Romero, KGW
Reverend Dr. Mark McIlraith live streams his sermon from Lake Grove Presbyterian Church in Lake Oswego, Ore. on Sunday, March 15, 2020.

Like so many other churches, McIlraith went this route to prevent the spread of COVID-19. He said they're not responding out of fear but out of love.

"We have a number of people in our congregation who are in that risk demographic for pandemic so we wanted to care and love for them in this way, as well as the entire community that comes to worship," McIlraith said.

"We want to make sure people stay safe, healthy and yet are still able to gather, even online, to worship God together. ... In spite of anxiety and fear of this pandemic we're living with right now, God is so much bigger."

Many churches canceled other events during the week, too.

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