Pandemic Religion: A Digital Archive

Personal Religious Experience -Jacob Miller

I'm a sophomore in college at the University of Missouri and quite honestly religion has been one of the biggest changes for me since the pandemic started. When I'm not in school I live in a small town in Southwest Missouri, and when the pandemic began and the first quarantine started, my church didn't take it very seriously, we weren't required to wear masks or distance ourselves or anything of the sort. About 3 weeks later a member of our church staff tested positive, resulting in the entire building being shut down for a number of weeks. When it finally reopened things just were not the same, the entire "social" side of going to church was hardly there at all. It kind of felt like going to a class, we all just had to sit there and listen without being able to greet other people. Along with this, ever since I can remember there is always about a 5 minute period in which you're able to walk around the room and say hi to friends and family before the sermon started. This was taken away, and the result is a hollow shell of a church, especially compared to what it used to be. I personally hope that this tradition picks back up after it is safe to do so because it's sad to see how harshly it's affecting the church.

May 2020

Church

non-denominational Christian

Missouri

personal story