On March 13, 2020, I decided to reach out to Bishop E. Anne Henning Byfield and Presiding Elder Uklyn Hendricks about the immediacy of a shift to church gatherings within the Virgin Islands Annual Conference.

To some pastors on St. Croix, it was a bold and premature move, as we quickly became the example of care from health officials to other ministries as the first church to publicly make changes to our services.

Though the majority of the church laity agreed with the changes, I admit that it wasn’t as easy to share the changes with the community.

Therefore, as for me, and St. Luke AME Church, we will serve the Lord from our homes.

The Rev. Jermaine Mulley is the pastor of St. Luke AME Church on St. Croix, the Director of Youth and Apprenticeship for the Virgin Islands Department of Labor, and serves as the chaplain for 786th CSSB in the Virgin Islands National Guard.