WADESBORO — Harvest Ministries hosted indoor services for the first time in 2 1/2 month on Sunday, June 7. Churches in North Carolina have been allowed to hold indoor services since mid-May due to the United States District Court granting a temporary restraining order on religious gathering restrictions.

“We’re trying to follow CDC guidelines,” said Lead Pastor Steve Adams. “Last week was a trial run, as we transition to reopening fully. People were following our new guidelines, going in one door, out one door.”

Other new rules included closing off the water fountain and certain areas of the building. Members of the congregation were also encouraged to space apart from another and were discouraged from making physical contact with each other.

“All in all, it was pretty smooth,” said Adams. “If there were any challenges, it was just coming back with some different guidelines right now. It was different for people not to be able to shake the hands of each other.”

Harvest Ministries has continued to distributed resources and supplies to the Anson County community throughout the pandemic. They are no longer accepting clothing donations, due to the risk of transmitting COVID-19.

“Food donations are continued to be needed,” said Adams. “And we will continue to assist people in our community who need help with that. Toiletries, sanitizer, all of those types of things are still in high demand also and we will distribute those as we receive them.”

Adams also plans on hosting another drive-thru grocery give-away like the one Harvest Ministries hosted in March. Folks supported that in a great way,” said Adams. “So we’re going to plan that for the community. We’re thinking early July, but I have to make sure all the logistics are right on that.”

The pandemic may have forced churches to temporarily close their doors, but the recent surge of protests across the country has impacted Harvest Ministries’ congregation in a different way.

“Our congregation, being multi-racial and multi-cultural, we are on-board 100% to support any effort that is peaceful,” said Adams. “We support the rights of everybody’s and we want to bring people together.”

“We’re here to help our community in any way, shape, or form,” said Adams. “For now, we’re just excited to once again have services inside.”

Reach Charles Wood at cwood@ansonrecord.com