It felt like "Christmas" for Pastor Miles McPherson and Rock Church as they welcome 5,000 congregants back on Sunday, a first since the COVID-19 virus hit.
McPherson is in a jubilant mood seeing that they are finally back to congregating in person on Sunday. The service was livestreamed via a Facebook broadcast.
"What's up Rock family? What's up Rock family! One year has gone by; we are back!" he cheered.
The Senior Pastor of Rock Church in San Diego, California pronounced blessing over all the campuses in which they are affiliated as well as everybody that is watching. He thanked them for their patience and faithfulness.
"COVID came, but COVID did not knock us out. Come on now! God will not stop the church. We are back. It is so exciting!" he declared.
On a more solemn tone, McPherson also acknowledged the many losses over the past year since the virus hit.
"Over the last year, we've gone through so much. A lot of y'all lost loved ones, lost jobs, businesses, but God is going to sustain you," he said.
"We don't realize how much we need each other, to look each other in the eyes, to see our faces and the expressions we're making," he added while noting that people are made for relationships, hence the depressing feeling when the warmth of physical connection was suddenly cut off during the quarantine.
McPherson continued by offering words of comfort and hope.
"He's going to sustain you as we talk about in this new series called 'Relaunching,' He's going to get you through," affirmed Rock Church's spiritual oversight.
According to The San Diego Union-Tribune, McPherson did not hold indoor services since until the state lifted the restrictions for churches last week.
"It was so good to see our family back together," he told the Tribune after their weekend service. "It was like Thanksgiving or Christmas when you get to reunite with your family and reestablish your relationships."
It was a notable service, indeed for Rock Church with the more than 5000 attendees from the four campuses and the 300,000 who joined the service online. Like McPherson, those who were present in their place of worship felt elated at the prospect of getting back to normal.
Karla Ghancous, 27, who shared that it is her birthday said that she was overjoyed to be back on Sunday morning and it felt like a gift from God.
"I kid you not, the Holy Spirit just caught me the moment those double doors opened and I heard the music. I'm ready to run back in right now," she said.
California lifted capacity limits on houses of worship
In February, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to allow California churches to congregate but only at a 25% limit. The ruling obligated Gov. Gavin Newsom to do revisions on the guidelines for indoor worship services.
On April 9, the limit was totally lifted, and California churches were free to meet at 100% capacity.
Good news aside, McPherson believes that it's still a time for Christians to be responsible.
"With the recent Supreme Court ruling allowing churches to meet indoors, the Rock Church leadership has been meeting to assess the feasibility of how to do it safely," he said in a statement. This requires preparation of the worship place as well as trainings for staff and volunteers to ensure that safety precautions are followed.
