NORFOLK, Va. — When you walk into Fourth Baptist Church in Portsmouth on a Wednesday morning, it's quiet. The pews are empty, the items on the altar are put away, and church members are going about their daily lives outside of service times.
For Sr. Pastor Charles Beamon, these are the moments he takes to reflect.
He said these past two years have presented many challenges for his church and his leadership role.
“Yeah, wow... it was a learning curve," Beamon said. “Not every day has been rosy. Nevertheless, it has been quite rewarding.”
When Fourth Baptist Church in Portsmouth had to close at the start of the pandemic to keep everyone safe from COVID-19, Beamon said many of his parishioners felt lost.
“You have to understand, most of the churches today, preaching Sunday mornings is about more than just preaching" he said. "It’s about fellowship -- and that was the missing piece for a lot of members. That I can no longer sit next to my best friend and worship together, with the fellowship together.”
Church leaders across Hampton Roads took on a big role the past two years of the pandemic. Soon after the vaccine became available to the public, faith organizations like Fourth Baptist Church started gathering resources to help underserved communities.
In order to gather for celebrations, prayer, even mourning, masking up and getting vaccinated became a priority. Beamon, though, said not everyone agreed on these new rules.
“Most of them were anxious to find a location to get vaccinated, particularly when it became available to their children or even grandchildren," he explained. "There were a few people who said, ‘I’m just not going to get vaccinated’ and you just pray and hope that they will."
When asked about the church-goers who refused to get the vaccine, Beamon said, "As people of faith, we believe God will protect us and provide for us, but at the same time, we believe God gave us common sense.”
It’s a mission Sr. Pastor Dr. Geoffrey Guns also took to heart.
Nearing 39 years with Second Calvary Baptist Church in Norfolk, he said the pandemic highlighted a greater need in his area.
“Get a slot, get a shot. That was our motto," Guns said. “Within a one-mile radius of this church, there’s not a single medical facility. There’s not a clinic, there’s not a drug store."
Teaming up with Sentara to tackle health disparities, Guns said he knew he could reach more people in these underserved communities. He and other church leaders have been going door-to-door in areas of Norfolk where people don't have proper access to healthcare.
He said they've particularly been trying to help residents in the Young Terrace neighborhood off of Brambleton Avenue learn more about how they can achieve healthy lifestyles.
“We have literally been responsible for helping more than 25,000 people in this area get vaccinated," Guns explained, referring to all the health clinics the church hosted in partnership with other area churches. "The reality is in the African-American community, the church is trusted.”
Guns and Beamon both said they won't stop helping people get access to the vaccine or other forms of healthcare in the community when the pandemic subsides. They still plan to host clinics and go door-to-door to educate people on overall health benefits and how to get help.
Fourth Baptist and Second Calvary Baptist churches aren’t the only faith organizations that stepped up to help with clinics during the pandemic.
Hundreds of churches across Hampton Roads continue partnerships with the Virginia Department of Health to make sure people in underserved communities get access to COVID-19 testing and vaccines.