Elgin Church Offering Drive-Up Communion On Thursday
(CBS) -- A downtown Elgin church is putting a new spin on taking the church to the people with drive-by or drive-up communion.
Ministers will be distributing communion in the parking lot of the 1st Congregational United Church of Christ in Elgin for two hours tomorrow, Maundy Thursday, at noon and at 5 p.m.
"We want to let the community know we are welcoming and inclusive and we realize that some folks, especially these days, are not comfortable inside a church building, so we want to be out where they are," says Senior Pastor Paris Donehoo.
He says drive-by communion is not an attempt to get people to feel they need to show up for church on Sunday, unless they really want to.
"This is not a bait and switch," he says.
Pastor Donehoo says the drive-by communion idea is an off-shoot of Ashes-To-Go that some churches offer on Ash Wednesday.
He says, "We are a downtown church in Elgin trying to stay relevant and trying to reach out to our community."
The pastor says he understands some people may not approve of what he's doing but he says, "This is something we can do for the community."