Encounter Church holds drive-in service to give congregation a chance to worship together

RATHDRUM — Pastor Craig Rice hadn’t preached to a parking lot of vehicles until Sunday morning.

“Aren’t you glad to be at church this morning?” he asked, looking out at the 25 cars, trucks and SUVs in front of him. “If you can hear me, honk your horns.”

Horns blared. Long and short blasts filled the air outside Encounter Church just off Highway 41 in Rathdrum.

Rice pumped his fist as he said it was great to see people coming together in these times of separation.

“This is amazing,” he said on a sunny, blue-skied, 50-degree day. “You’re surrounded by people even though you’re distancing yourselves.”

While many churches closed their doors and switched to online services in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, Encounter, a two-year church at 14438 N. Highway 41 in Rathdrum, went beyond what most were doing. It held a drive-in church service, much like a drive-in theater.

Flaggers guided drivers in for the 30-minute service that included music and a sermon. As it went on, cars passed by on Highway 41 and a jogger slowed as he listened to Rice before continuing on his way.

Angel Busicchia, involved in church outreach, said they wanted to try something different. Their drive-in service showed that people can come together to praise the Lord from the safety of their own quarantine setting, she added.

People with windows rolled up listened to the service on their car radio by tuning to 90.1 FM. Others rolled down windows and heard Rice loud and clear from a speaker system. Encounter plans to continue it for the next several Sundays.

“We want to have a sense of community,” Busicchia said. “We wanted to be able to get together and have that. When you come to church you just feel good because you get to be around other people who believe the same thing.”

Mary Collins, band leader, said in this time of a frightening health crisis, people need each other more than ever but they are also being told to stay apart. Isolation, she believes, can lead to depression and anxiety.

The drive-in church service was a solution to stay close, but far apart.

“You can look out your car windows and see friends,” she said. “This is getting people out of the house and into the sunshine.”

Suzette Boitnott listened from her white van, hanging out the driver’s door.

“It’s out of the box, it’s different, and I love it,” she said. “I want to be in church.”

Raeanna Porter was dropping her daughter off at work when she saw the service going on. So, she went home, got her husband Robert and daughter Aurora, and they joined it.

Robert Porter, Bible in hand, liked the concept.

“It’s wonderful no one is letting this crisis stop God’s word,” he said

Rice delivered a short sermon entitled “Silence the monster,” which was about overcoming fear. Listeners in their cars honked when he emphasized a point.

“The monster we’re facing right now is the unknown,” he said.

Their drive-in service provided an avenue for spiritual connection, which is needed more than ever in these times, said Rice, who smiled and waved good-bye as people drove off.

People of faith, he added, must be ready for moments like this.

“We were made to reach out beyond and help those are in need,” he said.