Valley Stream faith leaders reflect on a year of pandemic

As the one-year anniversary of the start to the coronavirus pandemic approaches Valley Stream’s various pastors said they are reflecting on the past twelve months of hardship with gratitude about how their ministry services have been able to survive and thrive.

Although grateful, many said they have seen an increased need for their services as congregants have struggled.

“The amount of death happening around me, even in my own family, has been astounding because of the coronavirus and at the same time, I have been challenged to learn how to meet the needs of my church during this time,” said Rev. Kymberley Clemons-Jones, 52, pastor of Valley Stream Presbyterian Church. “Whenever there is a crisis, people need support and as a pastor, it’s important that I work harder and longer to be present for people. This has been hard, but with God’s help, we keep pushing and experiencing more faith, more power and more love for each other.”

Although optimistic, the church, she said, has struggled financially as the pandemic has made fundraisers more difficult.

“My position as a pastor has become fully voluntary, due to the financial pressures on the church because of the pandemic,” Clemons-Jones said. 

Still, she said, her congregation has grown over the past year.

“More people have access to our church services now that we are available virtually--which is good because we can spread the word of Christ and the love of Christ to more people,” she said.  “Now, we have a contingency of people who tune in from across the world. Our friends in Ghana are worshiping with us every Sunday and people from California to Vermont are able to tune in as well.”

For other pastors, such pastor of Bethlehem Assembly of God church, Rev. Steve Milazzo, 58, he said that the pandemic has also brought many changes to his vocation.  

In order to run his church throughout the pandemic, Rev. Milazzo said he has had to work harder and longer than ever before because of what he describes as “pandemic-related traumas” that he said his congregation is facing. Each week throughout the pandemic, he said he has had to work 12 hours a day doing pastoral duties to meet the ever-changing needs of the church. 

“I am on-call more now because people are dealing with so many difficult things and I’ve had to initiate a lot more funerals than usual,” he said. “I’m not happy that we are still having to deal with this pandemic, but I have been relentless with loving other people and continuing to share the love of Christ with others, while helping them deal with life issues.” 

Milazzo, said that he and most pastors that he knows, have had to hold more pastoral counseling sessions than usual with congregants because of the pandemic.

With more sessions, he said he has oftentimes had to find new ways to deal with the emotional feelings he has experienced after hearing about many different hardships that people are facing. 

“Even though we are not licensed therapists, people look to pastors for counseling in order to save money, if they can’t afford professional counseling, especially during this pandemic when financial needs are greater for many,” Milazzo said.  “When pastors do counseling sessions, we tend to feel the sorrow of our congregants as we counsel them through tough things that they are going through. However, one of the ways I deal with this is by pulling away from everything and from everyone for a short time every day and then I just pray to God.” 

Bethlehem Assembly of God Church also hosts live guided prayer sessions that the church holds over Zoom every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. People can sign up on the church website.

“We have made a commitment to being together practically every night for prayer time and this has been a lifeline for the church community,” Milazzo said. “No matter what we are all going through, we can still join together and pray--which brings so much peace. We have become a stronger family.”

Dr. Sherby Clarke, 60, pastor of the Valley Stream Baptist church, said he too has witnessed both positive and negative results of the impact that the pandemic has had on himself and his congregation.  

Clarke said that although his church has lost two members who died of Covid-19, he has witnessed his congregants form closer bonds amongst one another. He has also noticed that people have become more devoted to God and their spiritual lives throughout the past year. 

“When the pandemic first hit, our number one goal was to get people to become more dedicated to the things of God, and after a year, I can honestly say that we have learned new ways of how we can make this happen while we continue to navigate the pandemic,” he said.

Within Clarke’s congregation, he said over the past year, has noticed that more members of the church are seeking out pastoral counseling services from him. In order to keep providing his congregants with advice, while not becoming overwhelmed with grief, Clarke said he has adopted a spiritual self-care routine which he said has helped him to stay motivated. It involves spending hours daily reading the Bible. The more he studies the Bible, he said, the more he is able to be present and motivated during his counseling sessions.

“I study the Bible for myself so that I can feed others spiritually,” he said, “and reading the Bible helps me to think positively, put my trust in God more and it reminds me to be more sympathetic and empathetic to others in a respectful manner during counseling sessions. My hope for the future is that the pandemic will go away soon and I also pray that more congregants will come to know God in a more personal way.”