How Conroe's The Ark Church is reopening for its congregation

On the 24th anniversary of its first service, the congregation of The Ark Church greeted each other warmly with air high fives, fist bumps and elbow taps. Through the pandemic, The Ark Church has been broadcasting Sunday services online through its website and Facebook. But on June 7, the church reopened its doors.

"We're very grateful to be opening back up, but it's just gonna look a little bit different than some of those ways, but I think the good far outweighs any of the challenges there," executive pastor Phillip Moore said.

Those challenges include frequent cleanings of surfaces such as doors, closing down the church's cafe and encouraging social distancing in its auditorium. On its first day back, church employees encouraged members to greet each other without contact.

During the economic shutdown, the church turned to outreach programs to support the Montgomery County community. Moore said the church connected with the Montgomery County Food Bank and held eight weeks of mobile food markets, which hosted 300-500 cars a week to pick up food. Media pastor Matt Clayton said the church also organized individuals to help people who were looking for jobs or struggling with finances.

Ark staff previously told Community Impact Newspaper its online services attracted more viewers than in-person services, and Moore said that has continued. Even as in-person services return, he said Ark will continue to offer these livestreams.

"That's been a real lifeline to be able to get messages of hope and faith and determination and getting God's word out to people," Moore said. "We've seen people that are tuning into our services from other states and other countries around the world."

Although he is excited to have the congregation back together, Clayton said the ability to communicate freely online provided great relief for many people.

"We know the best experience is face to face, but I've seen a great response of people visually connecting the best way they can," Clayton said. "I think we've seen anxieties kind of go down."