Maya McFadden Photo
With services suspended due to Covid-19, Mount Calvary Deliverance Tabernacle congregants drove en masse by the home of Pastor Robert Smith IV to let him know they miss him and the church.
The congregants gathered before the drop-in, in nearly 30 vehicles, at Colonial Funeral Home to get ready.
Organizers Nakia Dawson-Douglas, Michael Bethune, and Ronita Davis (pictured above) coordinated the socially-distanced gathering in three days to show appreciation for the pastor and his family on Glemby Street.
On Saturday, Davis told the pastor he would be receiving a “large delivery” for his family that he should stay home to sign for and receive Sunday morning.
As Dawson-Douglas and Bethune met the church members on Circular Avenue, Davis nervously contacted Smith to be sure he was outside of his home when the members began the drive-by.
When Davis called the pastor, he picked up in a whisper because he was at the Dixwell Avenue church in a morning prayer. Davis asked that he leave to head home and receive the make-believe package.
“Absolutely not,” he responded.
This made Davis and the other organizers begin to consider changing the drive-by location from his home to the church. But then Smith agreed and headed home.
Bethune led the line of cars by the pastor’s home as families driving by waved and honked their car horns. Many families had the children make signs and posters, which they held outside of the car windows.
“We love you,” the signs read. “We miss you.”
“It was great to bring joy to the community during these uncharted times,” said Bethune.
Bethune brought his two daughters along with him and reminded them of the importance of showing others that you care about them, especially during hard times.
Bethune said many joined not only to see the pastor but because they were looking to get out of their homes.
“It was a good idea on a beautiful morning. Thank God we were all able to say hello to our pastor,” said Ethel Dixon a church member since 1967.
The organizers gave the church members one strict rule: to stay in their cars.
“It wasn’t just for the pastor but for the neighborhood to see people safely together,” Bethune said.
Dawson-Douglas proposed the idea for the drive-by to the other organizers after seeing her next-door neighbor, a pastor, receive appreciation in the same way from his church. Going into the fifth week of no in-person services, the team reached out to church members via text and calls.
“I was looking forward to seeing the family in a safe way,” Dawson-Douglas said.
When Smith (pictured) received the call from Davis asking him to head home, he said, he was preparing for his afternoon broadcast.
“Something like this isn’t an expectation of the pastor, but it’s like an alternative form of worship and connectivity,” Smith said.
Overwhelmed by the surprise, Smith said by the end he was left feeling grateful.
Since the pandemic caused the church to suspend its in-person services, Smith has been hosting two 15-minute prayer lines every day except Saturdays, at 6 a.m and 7 p.m.
Smith said he sees the pandemic as an opportunity for others to maintain their faith through a crisis. “It’s a time to go within,” he said.
Like many of the church members driving by, Smith wore a face mask while waving back to his “spiritual family.”
The drive-by finished just in time for the families to head home and join the pastor for a 12 p.m prayer conference call.
“It was like a wave was worth a million words,” said Davis.