As of May 26, Bergen County, N.J., has had 1,529 deaths due to COVID-19, and New York City, only seven miles away, has had 16,410. All of us have lost friends and co-workers. One member has lost an uncle, but God has healed other cousins and relatives who were diagnosed with the virus. So far, no member of the congregation has been diagnosed with the virus, and we are extremely grateful for the Lord’s protection.

Wednesday evening prayer meetings, led by Elder Glen Chin via conference call, have doubled in attendance during the past couple of months. On the Lord’s Day evening, we spend some time visiting via conference call, and Elder David Weir has led a study on the appearances of Jesus after the resurrection. The elders are keeping a visitation schedule with each of the members by phone.

Over the last 25 years, many of the members have had prayer partners who pray weekly together over the phone. Participants find this to be a great encouragement, especially at this time.

For morning worship on the Lord’s Day, the session (led by moderator Charles Leach) decided not to invite visiting ministers to conduct services specifically for the congregation, but instead encouraged members to worship with other congregations during these months. Some have chosen a single congregation to worship with every week, but our family has used this time to get to know the other congregations in our Atlantic presbytery. Encouraged by a Facebook post by Deryl Robson in Christ Reformed Presbyterian Church in East Providence, R.I., we connect a laptop to our TV each week as we worship.

We started out by worshiping with Elkins Park, Pa., RPC near Philadelphia. Pastor John Edgar preached on Daniel 7, and, with his extensive knowledge of world history, traced the relationship between the beasts in Daniel’s dream to Babylon and the empires that would come after Babylon, culminating in the picture of Christ in verses 9–14. Pastor Edgar pointed all to the hope that comes from the prophecy of the triumph of Christ and the saints over the kingdoms of the earth in verse 27. The Webex format that Elkins Park Church uses allows Scripture reading and prayer by elders in different homes—and precenting from yet another home.

Since Christ (East Providence, R.I.) Reformed Presbyterian Church worships at 10 a.m., we were able to join them for multiple weeks while still working our way through the various congregations in the presbytery. The sermon I most remember was by Pastor Daniel Howe on Peter’s denial of Christ. Pastor Howe walked us through the stunning and bold confession of Peter that Jesus was the Christ and Peter’s confidence that he would die before denying Christ, only to realize the next morning that he had denied his Lord three times. Pastor Howe reminded us that we are capable of the worst sin. He encouraged us not to be confident in our ability to resist sin, but to plead with Christ to help us in our battle against sin. He also described Christ’s gentle restoration of Peter after the resurrection, exhorting us to be gentle as we confront sin.

Pastor Howe livestreams from his living room and encourages participants to sing four psalms each week after the livestream. He compared a livestream service, including a call to worship and a benediction, to an epistle, which contains an initial greeting and a benediction.

For White Lake, N.Y., RPC, Pastor David Coon livestreams a full service from his home: reading Scripture, leading the singing, in prayer, and in preaching. He preached on John 20:19–23, where Jesus breathes on the disciples and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Pastor Coon encouraged us to go forth and be the hands and feet of Jesus. This had special weight, since we know how much Pastor Coon and the White Lake congregation have done to show compassion to those who need food through their food pantry and other works of mercy.

First (Cambridge, Mass.) RPC Pastor Noah Bailey records his sermon on Saturday, and the congregation listens to it on the Lord’s Day. We were able to join a group coordinated by Patrick and Sylvia Mangan, who listen to the SermonAudio recording together via Zoom. At 11a.m., all logged in and people volunteered to lead the various psalms, read Scripture, and pray. Pastor Bailey preached on Psalm 33. He encouraged us to meditate on the Word, to fill our hearts with the works of God so that our hearts would overflow with songs of praise to God. Relating this to our current situation, he said, “We have seen the cross of Christ, so we know the outcome of the coronavirus.”

Hazleton, Pa., RPC Pastor Paul Brace preached on Ephesians 1:19-23 and emphasized the importance of Jesus’ ascension and current work of administering His kingdom. Christ is far above all other spiritual beings and physical creatures. This encourages us to take comfort that this is true now and for all eternity. Hazleton has done a combination of livestreams and drive-in services. We listened to a livestream from the church building where Pastor Brace had precenting help from his family.

Coldenham-Newburgh (Walden, N.Y.) RPC livestreams a devotional each Lord’s Day morning. Pastoral intern Zach Dotson clearly presented the gospel through Psalm 1. He challenged unbelievers to think about whether they are part of the “ungodly” or part of the “righteous” described in the psalm. He warned that if we are part of the ungodly, when we die all that we have worked for in this life will be lost, and we will be punished forever in hell. In contrast to the messages we hear from the world about how “the answer is within,” he pointed out that we need to “look outside of ourselves” to Christ for the righteousness to be justified before God.

For Walton, N.Y., RPC, moderator of session, Pastor Bill Chellis, has been livestreaming his prayer, declaration of pardon, reading, and preaching every week from his home. The congregation simultaneously gathers via Zoom for the full service. He preached about the paralytic whose friends tore through the roof to lower him down to Jesus. This man and his friends recognized that Jesus is the source of life and health and blessing and were willing to do whatever it took to grab hold of these things. Jesus did not simply treat the symptoms; he healed the disease of sin, the root of all sickness. Pastor Chellis described the healing of the paralytic as prophetic of the resurrection.

Broomall, Pa., RPC also used Webex for worship, and we joined them as they were beginning a series on Lamentations. Pastor Alex Tabaka described how the book uses the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet to form acrostics. The book’s middle chapter is the climax, with a 66-verse “triple acrostic.” He prepared us for the coming sermons on each of the five chapters by saying that we will understand more deeply the horror of our sin and more fully the amazing grace of Christ through this book. We were able to pray with Elder Joe Rizzo from his home, and the psalms were led by Elder Alex Edgar. A special treat was being able to hear his young son sing along as we closed with the doxology.

We give thanks for these opportunities to get to know our presbytery better and to be built up by this fellowship online with believers in other congregations. Two days of fasting and prayer for COVID-19 and one for injustice and unrest in America have brought us closer to Christ. Our congregational prayer meetings have comforted and strengthened us. We have learned more fully through these months the truth summarized in the Heidelberg Catechism, “That I, with body and soul, both in life and in death, am not my own, but belong to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ…” (modern English translation, from the Reformed Church in the United States). Please pray for the whole Atlantic Presbytery and for the Ridgefield Park congregation, that God would give us opportunities for further witness at this time.

Bonnie Weir is a member of Ridgefield Park, N.J., RPC.