Instead of scaling back in 2020, Iglesia La Mision Assembly of God in Nyack, New York, stepped up — increasing service options, growing attendance, and onboarding new leaders to keep ministry going throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was far from easy. The state of New York had some of the strictest and earliest lockdowns, so the church halted in-person services in March.

Tragically, four members of the congregation died from COVID-19. Many others struggled financially amid layoffs.

“This whole pandemic was a nightmare,” says Raymond Castro, the church’s senior pastor. “Our people were starving for connection. We didn’t want to stay away, but we had to.”

Castro has always been a proponent of empowering others for ministry. He believes the pastor’s job is to equip church members for works of service, just as Ephesians 4:11–13 teaches:

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Facing the extraordinary challenges of ministry during a global pandemic, Castro knew empowering members was the only way to keep the work of the church going.

“From the get-go, I explained that we all had to step up to the plate,” Castro says. “I can’t do it alone, and I won’t do it alone.”

When services went fully online, the church saw a jump in attendance. Before the pandemic, weekend services had brought in 200 attendees on average. By comparison, online gatherings were attracting more than 5,000 viewers. Over the 2020 Easter weekend, there were 11,000 people engaged — an all-time record.

Iglesia La Mision also ramped up discipleship efforts during this time. The transition to online meetings was difficult for some, but group leaders chose to focus on the possibilities rather than complain about what they couldn’t do.

“We had a person overseeing discipleship, and they made sure people were connecting every week,” Castro says. “The new people who were connecting online got involved in discipleship that way.”

As people engaged in small group meetings via Zoom, leaders were intentional about spiritual growth. As a result, the church continued to grow spiritually and numerically even while the building was shuttered.

This focus on discipleship was not just a reaction to the problems of the pandemic. It has been a hallmark of the church for years. The mission of making disciples remained unchanged, even when the methods were in flux. It served as a rallying point for moving forward through a season of crisis and upheaval.

In late June, New York began lifting restrictions on religious gatherings. Iglesia La Mision could finally open for socially distanced, in-person meetings. In keeping with safety guidelines, the church limited attendance to 50% capacity.

Castro was unsure how many congregants would show up for church or how many visitors to expect. He knew two services would accommodate the pre-pandemic crowd. Nevertheless, Castro and his ministry team took a leap of faith and relaunched with five in-person services.

“I give room for other people to develop their calling and gift mix.”
— Raymond Castro

However, Castro knew he couldn’t manage such an ambitious schedule on his own. He would need help with preaching and running the services.

“If I preach five services, I’m going to overextend myself,” Castro says. “We had to come up with a plan.”

The strategy materialized quickly. Each service would take place at the same worship center, and a crew would clean and sanitize between meetings. A different minister would lead each service, with a fresh worship team and support staff. That way, if any one team came in contact with the virus, it would not necessarily affect the other four service times.

The biggest question was where to find ministers to lead each of the four extra services. Iglesia La Mision does not have a large staff of pastors, but it does have a development path for leaders, something the church has worked on for years.

As part of their focus on church planting, Iglesia La Mision leaders have steadily invested in the lives of members who demonstrate a call to full-time ministry. That investment is part of the discipleship process.

Ultimately, the goal is to help these members become ordained ministers and lead their own congregations. In the meantime, they serve as leaders in the congregation — with the title of “local ministers.” Their responsibilities may include preaching, leading worship, overseeing Communion, and doing pastoral visitation.

“They work in our church for five years, and then they are ready to do work in full-time ministry if they want to,” Castro says. “They are pastors in training.”

Castro felt these local ministers were the right people to lead the extra services. After all, they were already trained and respected by the members.

“I don’t really think of myself as the one-and-all,” Castro says. “I give room for other people to develop their calling and gift mix. I think that’s helped them because they see that I’m not insecure.”

To avoid overflowing attendance at any one service, Castro asked congregants who planned to attend in person to select a specific service time and sign up for it. He also made sure there was space for visitors in each service.

Although the congregants did not know who was preaching at the various services, they attended and found a fit, as well as a place to serve. Castro says it had nothing to do with personality and everything to do with the presence of God and love for one another.

“Thank God we have great teams,” Castro says. “This is definitely a lot of hands and a lot of commitment.”

Castro says that through this trying time, the people of Iglesia La Mision experienced what it means to look to God rather than at their limitations and difficulties. And Castro believes God has honored their faith.

Leaders didn’t know exactly what to expect when the church reopened. They weren’t sure whether people would return for in-person gatherings, much less enough people to justify five services. However, since the relaunch, in-person attendance has doubled, with more than 400 now showing up for weekend services.

There are new people in the seats — and new people accepting Christ as Savior and beginning the discipleship journey.

In addition, online services are still attracting a steady stream of attendees.

Castro says none of this would have been possible without a commitment to equip and empower people to do the work of ministry.

“Pastors need to trust their people and know that God uses lay leaders,” Castro says. “A lot of times, we wait for the perfect associate or perfect worship team, when God has already given us people He himself prepared.”