Historic Grove Churches Use Technology to Maintain Fellowship

For years, Plymouth Congregational Church and its West Grove sister church, Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, have jointly celebrated Good Friday by sharing brunch and then conducting a joint noon worship service in Plymouth's Sanctuary.

Good Friday, observed on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus, is one of the most important dates on the Christian calendar and is a solemn contrast to the joyful Easter Sunday celebration of the resurrection of Jesus.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the plans, but these historic Grove churches have found a new way to continue the tradition while maintaining "social distancing." This year, the worship service will include members from both churches reading in succession the Passion story from the Gospel of Matthew in front of an old wooden cross in Plymouth's outdoor chapel.

Plymouth's pastors and choir members will do their parts in Plymouth's main sanctuary, while Macedonia's pastor and choir members will do their part in Macedonia's sanctuary. Then, the work will be spliced together and posted online at Plymouth's website at noon on Good Friday, April 10.

"Good Friday fellowship and worship with our brothers and sisters from Macedonia have been an important part of our preparation for Easter for many years," said Plymouth Senior Pastor Rev. Al Bunis. "It hearkens back to the days when the people who would eventually form each church worshipped together in the late 1800s."

Like most churches worldwide, Plymouth and Macedonia have closed their sanctuaries to in-person worship in an effort to "flatten the curve." But by utilizing technology like Zoom and Facebook live, and making creative use of video, these historic churches continue to meet the needs of parishioners through on-line worship, study of the Bible and fellowship during this time of "social distancing."

For example, Plymouth has moved its four weekly Bible study groups onto the Zoom platform, and conducts multiple weekly fellowship Zoom meetups for adults, young adults, and parents with young children. In addition, Sunday school for kids is posted online on Friday, and Sunday worship is broadcast at 10 a.m. on Sundays.

The schedule for holiday observances, all of which can be viewed at www.plymouthmiami.org is as follows:

• Maundy Thursday 7 pm
• Good Friday 12 pm
• Easter 6:30 am

More info is available on facebook at @plymouthmiami.

Historic Plymouth Congregational Church, which has been serving the Grove community since 1897, is located at 3400 Devon Road off of Main Highway. Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, founded even earlier, in 1895, is located at 3515 Douglas Road, and is the oldest African-American Baptist church in Miami-Dade County. More information is available at https://macedoniambcmiami.com/

A portion of this article previously appeared in Patch at https://patch.com/florida/miam...