Dec 17, 2020 4 min read

We all know the value of local small businesses. Restaurants, shops, and services like hair salons have struggled to stay afloat during the pandemic. Even when they’ve been able to open, they’ve had to do so with limitations and extra precautions.

Now that we’re in another round of serious state restrictions, my heart is warmed by how we rally together to support our friends, family, and neighbors who work for and own local small businesses.

As we do, my hope is that we also rally to support our local faith communities and other nonprofit organizations. In a way, they are small businesses, too. They bring necessary services and impact to our local community. They employ people. And they are struggling to stay afloat financially in the pandemic.

In the church I serve, we have had to adapt. While we are technically exempt from many state restrictions, our leadership firmly believes that we have a Christian responsibility to prioritize the health and safety of people above doing things the way we want to do them.

So, we’ve followed state recommendations and restrictions every step of the way. Worship has seen the greatest shifts: pre-recorded worship in the spring, outdoor worship in the summer, limited-capacity sanctuary worship this fall, and now online-only live streaming.

These changes have required the purchase of additional equipment.

We’ve also done our best to keep our staff employed at pre-pandemic levels, though at times they have graciously volunteered to take pay cuts for short periods. We never asked them to do so, but they care about our ministry so much that their first instinct is to sacrifice their income for the sake of the greater mission.

Just as local small businesses – especially bars and restaurants – rely on physical customers for the majority of their income, donations to local faith communities tend to rise and fall with physical attendance in worship. An increase in online giving has helped our church, but donations are still down about 15% in 2020. Thankfully, our expenses have also been lower, and we’ve managed to make ends meet.

But we still worry about the long-term financial impact of this year.

I also serve on the board of a small Washington County nonprofit organization, and we have faced the same financial crunch. Each year we have two major fundraisers: a golf outing, and a dinner and auction. With the cancellation of both events, we lost a big chunk of income that we rely on every year. We’re managing to keep staff employed and continue our work in the community with minimal interruption, but we anticipate a long-term negative financial impact from this pandemic.

I share all this not to beg for donations to the church or nonprofit I serve, but as a reminder that faith communities and nonprofits are part of that “local small business” category that we rally to support in challenging times. I realize that with so many people still unemployed or underemployed, not everyone is in a financial position to get frequent takeout from local restaurants or make donations to faith communities or nonprofits.

But those of us who are should do our best to keep all these important institutions going during this crisis.

Most of us have a faith community or local nonprofit organization that means something to us. If that’s true for you, and you have the means to do so, consider making a donation.

Every takeout order at a local restaurant helps. Likewise, every donation – regardless of amount – makes a difference in allowing faith communities and other nonprofit organizations to continue serving the needs of our community.

The Rev. Erik Hoeke is pastor of Avery United Methodist Church in North Franklin and a South Strabane resident.