“This time last year we could not come to the sanctuary,” he preached to his congregation in Detroit’s Greater New Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church. “This time last year we were dealing with coronavirus in the early stages. This time last year I had to have Easter alone in my basement.”
Flowers himself had Covid-19. His wife, Terri Flowers, was also hospitalized with the virus at the time. But this Resurrection Sunday, about a year later, was different – in part because Flowers told his congregations to be vaccinated against the virus.
“If God can use doctors for cardiology, if God can use doctors for oncology and cancer, then surely God can use doctors for Covid-19,” Flowers told CNN. “It does not mean that you do not have confidence. You have to have your confidence, but you also have to use the doctors, so take the vaccination.”
Some political leaders – including President Joe Biden, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan and Mike Duggan, Mayor of Detroit – have called on religious leaders, especially in color communities like Flowers, to encourage their congregations to be vaccinated.
Terri Flowers said she and her husband tell churchgoers that the vaccine is ‘painless’.
“However, Covid is not painless,” she told CNN. “And after being in the hospital myself at the same time … more than nine days last year, I can only say to those who have not yet been vaccinated, it’s OK to be vaccinated.”
The state added 8,400 new cases over the weekend – the most since December, according to Michigan Department of Health data. State health officials call it a ‘third surge’ of the virus, with Michigan also battling a large number of cases of coronavirus variants.
It was not easy for some members of Flowers’ congregation to come up with the idea of getting the chance.
Deacon Harry Mont said he was initially skeptical about the vaccine.
“I used to be even a little hesitant, but I had to look around to understand that people are being vaccinated,” he told CNN.
“I hear the things about the after-effects and what do you have, but I had to look beyond what I was going to do instead of protecting the people around me?”
Mont, who has now received both doses of a vaccine, said he is slowly seeing more confidence among his fellow churchgoers.
He said the attitude shift could be the result of the church holding its own vaccination clinic in mid-March.
According to Flowers, the church has vaccinated more than 200 people. Second doses are administered in mid-April.
Flowers described several congregations describing his leadership as the main reason they were vaccinated – including an 85-year-old woman who told him she had no intention of getting the vaccine before giving a recent sermon to him. have not heard.
“The message resonates,” Flowers said. ‘There have been people who have told me I’m not going to do this. Pastor, but after hearing from you, I decided to go ahead and get vaccinated, so I praise God for that. ‘
Some members of the community said they believed they had made progress in getting more people vaccinated and wearing masks to combat Covid.
“I think in color communities we continue in this area,” said church member Sandra Sloan, who said she encouraged her family members to get the vaccine as well.
This year’s Resurrection Sunday worship service had a smaller number of people, as many congregations were still watching the church’s services online, Flowers said.
But the Flowers’ message to both personal and virtual churchgoers remained clear.
“There will always be someone with some doubt,” Terri Flowers said. “And for those, we can only pray for them. We can just keep encouraging them and just being there for them. But thankfully, I can only say, just do it.”