Item
"I have found it a little difficult because we can't have our regularly scheduled church services."
Media
Title (Dublin Core)
"I have found it a little difficult because we can't have our regularly scheduled church services."
Religion 101 Oral History #29, 2020/04
Disclaimer (Dublin Core)
DISCLAIMER: This item may have been submitted in response to a school assignment prompt. See Linked Data.
Description (Dublin Core)
"I have found it a little difficult because we can't have our regularly scheduled church services. However, I have pretty much still been going to church as scheduled because I am the head worship leader of the church so we do our live church services like our online church services so I am a big part of that."
Recording Date (Dublin Core)
Contributor (Dublin Core)
Event Identifier (Dublin Core)
Partner (Dublin Core)
Type (Dublin Core)
Oral History
Controlled Vocabulary (Dublin Core)
Curator's Tags (Omeka Classic)
Collection (Dublin Core)
Curatorial Notes (Dublin Core)
Date Submitted (Dublin Core)
05/12/2020
Date Modified (Dublin Core)
07/24/2020
10/22/2020
12/10/2020
05/20/2021
06/16/2020
05/10/2022
06/20/2022
06/15/2023
09/15/2023
Location (Omeka Classic)
Lake Havasu City
Arizona
United States of America
Language (Dublin Core)
English
Duration (Omeka Classic)
00h:05m:40s
abstract (Bibliographic Ontology)
The Interviewee discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic affected her religious beliefs. Interviewee shares how her church adapted to a virtual format due to the pandemic.
Transcription (Omeka Classic)
Interviewer 00:00
Could you please state your name?
Interviewee 00:03
Stephanie McLaughlin.
Interviewer 00:05
And where in the world are you located?
Interviewee 00:08
I am in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
Interviewer 00:11
Okay. And what is your current religious affiliation?
Interviewee 00:13
I am a Pentecostal Christian.
Interviewer 00:16
Okay. And sort of like what's your religious background? Like, have you always been affiliated with this religion?
Interviewee 00:21
Yes. I was pretty much born into it. I don’t know how much you want to hear but at five months old, my family actually started a Pentecostal Christian church. And I've been a part of that ever since. I am now 25 or so.
Interviewer 00:36
Okay, perfect. So the first question that we ask is how has COVID-19 affected your faith or belief?
Interviewee 00:45
Honestly, it really hasn't. I have been blessed enough that I own my own business. And it's not really being affected much. I do have- I don’t know how much I’m supposed to tell you about, but I have a business where I teach music to kids and adults and whomever, I have about half of those students that are taking remote lessons and then half of them are still coming to me. So this hasn’t been affected too much. It has been a little difficult because we can't have our regularly scheduled church services. However, I am pretty much still going to church as scheduled because I am the worship leader of the church. So we do our live church services, like our online live church services, so I’m a big part of that. Honestly, my life and my faith have not been affected too much because my regular schedule has not been affected that much.
Interviewer 01:49
You kind of answered the second one, but maybe we go in more detail on it.[Unintelligible] Is your religious community still currently gathering? [Laughter]
Interviewee 2:02
No, not currently.
Interviewer 2:03
How has COVID-19 affected your participation in your religious community? So kind of like how are you compensating for not like gathering?
Interviewee 02:11
Well, I still- I delve into the Word every day, as much as I can. If I can't, I listen to, because many of our local churches, as well, as you know, just churches around the world, including even the big time churches of my religion, are doing their own live stream services so I’ve been tuning into those as much as I can. I also, you know, I do my own. I pray every day, I read the Bible. You know, just your basic average stuff.
Interviewer 02:42
And you mentioned that you- your church is doing these live streams.
Interviewee 2:47
Yes.
Interviewer 2:48
Have you had any issues with people being able to access that or anything?
Interviewee 02:56
At first, it was a little rocky. I mean, they could access it, but you know, we had trouble with the sound. And um, your average every day technical difficulties that was keeping people from that, but this has been going on awhile. We have a technical guy that works with the church that kind of just recently inputted some changes that now allow, you know, the sound to kind of go through the live stream in a different way so it's more clear as well the slides that the pastor uses for different teachings, they're now showing up directly on the screen instead of just being, you know, like, in the background, like they were before. And so things are actually improving in that direction.
Interviewer 03:36
Alright. How does media portrayals of religious authorities across the country, like for example, like the pastor's has been jailed and fined for refusing to cease public gatherings. How has that like affected you or your communities and your response about any of that.
Interviewee 03:53
Well. You know it doesn’t personally affect me or my community. I don't- that hasn’t been- I live in a small town, so that has not been a problem, for us personally. Myself, my thoughts on it though, you know, I- it's difficult because I do feel that the government orders should be respected as much as I believe that church is important, I also believe that the law should be abided by. So, I think maybe perhaps being imprisoned is a bit extreme. However, I don't know what the circumstances were leading up to that. I wouldn't say I have enough information to form a full opinion on that.
Interviewer 04:42
Alright. The next question is, does your religious community supply in or engaged in any kind of community service in an attempt to alleviate issues caused by the pandemic?
Interviewee 04:52
Our pastor does her best to give to those that are in her church that are in need. You know, like people who haven't had toilet paper, so she would go give toilet paper or food or whatever it is that were needed, but I wouldn’t say she- we’re involved in any major organizations that are doing a lot for that, communally.
Interviewer 05:19
Okay. Alright. That concludes the questions I have for you in this interview. Is there anything further you'd like to add?
Interviewee 05:26
No, I think I'm okay.
Interviewer 05:27
Okay, thank you. I appreciate your time and willingness to share your thoughts on this matter.
Interviewee 5:333
No problem. Thank you for calling. Have a great day.
Interviewer 5:36
You too. That concludes the recordings for the telephone interview.
Could you please state your name?
Interviewee 00:03
Stephanie McLaughlin.
Interviewer 00:05
And where in the world are you located?
Interviewee 00:08
I am in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
Interviewer 00:11
Okay. And what is your current religious affiliation?
Interviewee 00:13
I am a Pentecostal Christian.
Interviewer 00:16
Okay. And sort of like what's your religious background? Like, have you always been affiliated with this religion?
Interviewee 00:21
Yes. I was pretty much born into it. I don’t know how much you want to hear but at five months old, my family actually started a Pentecostal Christian church. And I've been a part of that ever since. I am now 25 or so.
Interviewer 00:36
Okay, perfect. So the first question that we ask is how has COVID-19 affected your faith or belief?
Interviewee 00:45
Honestly, it really hasn't. I have been blessed enough that I own my own business. And it's not really being affected much. I do have- I don’t know how much I’m supposed to tell you about, but I have a business where I teach music to kids and adults and whomever, I have about half of those students that are taking remote lessons and then half of them are still coming to me. So this hasn’t been affected too much. It has been a little difficult because we can't have our regularly scheduled church services. However, I am pretty much still going to church as scheduled because I am the worship leader of the church. So we do our live church services, like our online live church services, so I’m a big part of that. Honestly, my life and my faith have not been affected too much because my regular schedule has not been affected that much.
Interviewer 01:49
You kind of answered the second one, but maybe we go in more detail on it.[Unintelligible] Is your religious community still currently gathering? [Laughter]
Interviewee 2:02
No, not currently.
Interviewer 2:03
How has COVID-19 affected your participation in your religious community? So kind of like how are you compensating for not like gathering?
Interviewee 02:11
Well, I still- I delve into the Word every day, as much as I can. If I can't, I listen to, because many of our local churches, as well, as you know, just churches around the world, including even the big time churches of my religion, are doing their own live stream services so I’ve been tuning into those as much as I can. I also, you know, I do my own. I pray every day, I read the Bible. You know, just your basic average stuff.
Interviewer 02:42
And you mentioned that you- your church is doing these live streams.
Interviewee 2:47
Yes.
Interviewer 2:48
Have you had any issues with people being able to access that or anything?
Interviewee 02:56
At first, it was a little rocky. I mean, they could access it, but you know, we had trouble with the sound. And um, your average every day technical difficulties that was keeping people from that, but this has been going on awhile. We have a technical guy that works with the church that kind of just recently inputted some changes that now allow, you know, the sound to kind of go through the live stream in a different way so it's more clear as well the slides that the pastor uses for different teachings, they're now showing up directly on the screen instead of just being, you know, like, in the background, like they were before. And so things are actually improving in that direction.
Interviewer 03:36
Alright. How does media portrayals of religious authorities across the country, like for example, like the pastor's has been jailed and fined for refusing to cease public gatherings. How has that like affected you or your communities and your response about any of that.
Interviewee 03:53
Well. You know it doesn’t personally affect me or my community. I don't- that hasn’t been- I live in a small town, so that has not been a problem, for us personally. Myself, my thoughts on it though, you know, I- it's difficult because I do feel that the government orders should be respected as much as I believe that church is important, I also believe that the law should be abided by. So, I think maybe perhaps being imprisoned is a bit extreme. However, I don't know what the circumstances were leading up to that. I wouldn't say I have enough information to form a full opinion on that.
Interviewer 04:42
Alright. The next question is, does your religious community supply in or engaged in any kind of community service in an attempt to alleviate issues caused by the pandemic?
Interviewee 04:52
Our pastor does her best to give to those that are in her church that are in need. You know, like people who haven't had toilet paper, so she would go give toilet paper or food or whatever it is that were needed, but I wouldn’t say she- we’re involved in any major organizations that are doing a lot for that, communally.
Interviewer 05:19
Okay. Alright. That concludes the questions I have for you in this interview. Is there anything further you'd like to add?
Interviewee 05:26
No, I think I'm okay.
Interviewer 05:27
Okay, thank you. I appreciate your time and willingness to share your thoughts on this matter.
Interviewee 5:333
No problem. Thank you for calling. Have a great day.
Interviewer 5:36
You too. That concludes the recordings for the telephone interview.
Accrual Method (Dublin Core)
4034