When Andrew and Sondra Zabroske were approached by their pastor at Immaculate Conception Parish in Washington, D.C. to start a Lenten Bible study for men and women, they had no idea that a few weeks later, amid social distancing precautions due to the coronavirus pandemic, their meetings would go virtual.
Using Google Hangouts, an online video chat platform, Andrew and Sondra Zabroske have continued to study Scripture and cultivate community within their small group each week.
“It’s so nice to see everyone’s faces,” Sondra Zabroske said. “There is power in reading the Bible together. Even though the sky may be falling, it’s fine because we have our hope and faith in Christ.”
Nearly 10 people gathered online for the group’s first virtual meeting as they continued their study of the Passion of Christ in the Gospel of Luke that began at the beginning of Lent. As the weeks continue, they hope the group will grow even more.
“We’ve encouraged people to invite more people,” Andrew Zabroske said. “There’s just a need for this. It’s for anyone who wants to see people and talk.”
Andrew Zabroske said that leaning on faith in times of pandemic is essential.
“It’s all we have,” he said. “Our faith is everything.”
Staying hopeful during the pandemic is also important, Sondra Zabroske said.
“I also think that all the news and social media out there, everything is so negative,” she said. “As Christians, we still have the duty to be joyful and hopeful… and I think that talking to other people of faith just strengthens us and is so encouraging.”
Her husband added that this period of time can be seen as a “great blessing in many ways,” especially during the Lenten season.
As the group continues to meet, Sondra Zabroske said she hopes they can share the “silver linings around the coronavirus” with one another. The small group itself, she said, is one silver lining.
While turning in-person small groups into online small groups does help maintain the normalcy of community during the coronavirus pandemic, it also encourages people to “think outside the box,” Andrew Zabroske said.
“When we break down one barrier, it’s amazing what comes out of it,” he continued.
In addition to small groups and Bible studies, many parishes in the Archdiocese of Washington have utilized online platforms to reach their communities during this crisis.
Jaclyn Lippelmann, director of digital media for the Archdiocese of Washington, shared how technology allows people to continue sharing their lives with family and friends.
“Our encounters right now may look a little different, but they’re still possible,” she said.
Using programs such as Google Hangouts, like Andrew and Sondra Zabroske's small group, or other online programs, can help imitate the face-to-face conversations – both for work meetings or for connecting with friends with games – that are important to people.
“Being intentional and finding ways to reach out to the people in our lives is critical in a time when it is easy to feel isolated and alone,” Lippelmann said.
Within the Archdiocese of Washington, there are several ways to remain connected to the local faith community.
“The archdiocese has responded quickly to produce pastoral and catechetical resources to help the faithful during this time, and we’re sharing those widely through adw.org and through social media channels,” Lippelmann said. “A big focus right now is to help connect people with great resources being produced by local parishes, from live stream Masses and Adoration to pastoral messages and meditations.”
Many of these local resources can be found on adw.org.
Lippelmann said this time has opened up new doors for evangelization and for hope.
“I think people are really hungry to see that all of this suffering right now is not for nothing, that God is at work,” she said. “The stories we’re seeing – drive-through Confession, drive-in Adoration with hundreds of participants, pastors using technology to engage with their parishioners – these stories are such bright spots of hope.”
