The future of faith: Pandemic, economic crisis and social unrest have many turning to faith for answers

SEATTLE -- There is no doubt, these are trying and uncertain times.

First, we were hit by a pandemic and its economic impacts that have left millions out of work.

Now, new questions about racial inequality and police brutality in America are bringing social unrest.

It’s a lot at once. Many people are struggling and looking for a place to turn.

The official motto of the United States is “In God We Trust.” For many, faith has now moved to the forefront.

Donna Anderson of Fircrest is one of those. Her 86-year-old mother is living at a Tacoma nursing facility that has seen 22 cases of COVID-19.

“She spiked a fever. She wasn’t feeling good. She wasn’t eating well. We couldn’t get in to see her," Anderson said. "What if it would have been COVID?“

Thankfully, her mom hasn't gotten the virus. Still, for Anderson, it's been a time of uncertainty and stress.

Donna Anderson talks on a cell phone through a window to her 86-year-old mother at a Tacoma nursing home that's seen 22 cases of COVID-19

On Sundays, she parks alongside others, all tuning their radios to dial-in their faith at a drive-in service at OurChurch in University Place.

"For me, my faith is everything,” Anderson said.

“These gatherings, I can tell, have become more important to people," said Dean Curry, Senior Pastor at OurChurch. "Where they may have done it out of habit before, it’s become out of necessity now. Because people are definitely struggling.”

Desperate times bring about different approaches from different faith communities.

Temple Beth Am and its Seattle congregation have been hit hard by the virus.

“We had one week when we had eight deaths associated with COVID-19 alone,” said Rabbi Ruth Zlotnick.

After the outbreak, the leadership at the temple put many traditional programs on hold to support people experiencing a crisis.

“We wanted to let people know that there are opportunities as a community to help support each other, to inspire each other and to grieve together,” Zlotnick said. "Some of the ways we’ve shifted, I think will have changed faith communities forever now.”

Rabbi Ruth Zlotnick connects with members of the congregation at Temple Beth Am in Seattle over Zoom

It's a change we could hear behind the tall grass, amid the open fields of the Snoqualmie Valley in Duvall. That's where Father Aaron Burt of the Advent Anglican Church in Kirkland has taken his sermons on the road. On this day, he was recording them on video using a selfie stick while walking along a muddy gravel road.

Burt's approach is one of inclusion. He didn’t want to worship from inside the church if his parishioners couldn’t be there, too.

“We can’t meet in our sanctuary, but welcome to God’s cathedral,” Burt said, looking out at the sun-bathed valley.

He’s been able to reflect by reading the responses to his sermons posted online. Some people have been curious and concerned if COVID-19 was a sign the apocalypse could be coming.

“I think a lot of people are afraid that things are trending in a direction, signs of the times, things are ending, that there will be some sort of doom that’s greater at the end of this,” Burt said.

Mostly he's seen evidence that being forced to stay home has pushed all of us to face our issues.

“People are stuck with realities that they’ve been typically distracting themselves from," Burt said. "So, if a marriage was struggling to begin with, there’s no escaping that reality now as people are quarantined together.”

Fr. Aaron Burt of the Advent Anglican Church in Kirkland takes his pre-taped online sermons for a walk along a gravel road in the Snoqualmie Valley

He admitted it's a challenging time to be a faith leader.

“Many of us as pastors are back at ground zero, and there’s a little bit of anxiety in that," Burt said. "What does it mean to do this job now? But there’s tons of opportunity in that as well.”

For Anderson, who has visited her mom through a window at the nursing home several times a week during the pandemic, it's faith that is getting her through this.

“If I don’t have God, if I don’t have faith, then I don’t have anything," she said.