Religious services going strong mid-pandemic, Southwest Church to welcome new Spanish speaking pastor

On Sunday Southwest Church welcomed a new Spanish speaking pastor, becoming one of the newest additions to its team. The church, which sits at the corner of Washington Street and Fred Waring Drive in Indian Wells, currently provides Spanish worship services on Sundays at 4 p.m. either on the church lawn, or virtually.

"The new pastor for our Spanish congregation is named Enrique Cuevas. He grew up in Mexico, but then moved to the states for education and we are thrilled to have him here in the valley," said Southwest Church Executive Pastor, Tim Kuhl.

Sunday's service was filled with song and celebration. Cuevas took to the stage to deliver one of his first sermons to a lawn of parishioners and those watching from home.

Pastor Kuhl joined in on Sunday's service. Although Riverside County's current red tier status permits indoor service at 25 percent capacity, Kuhl said they were waiting patiently, and keeping service outside.

"Our weekend services are larger crowds and the larger crowds need to stay outside still. Smaller things can move inside the building, but in the orange tier, 50% means we could move our services back inside," said Kuhl.

As temperatures start to warm up, Kuhl said they are working with the city of Indian Wells to put up a temporary shade structure to "maintain outdoor services as late into the season" as they could."

Next weekend will be the second year that the church will be hosting services in the pandemic.

"Last easter it was so soon after the quarantine that we were only online. We’re really excited about our ability to meet on our campus outdoors. So this Easter we’re outside from 8 a.m., 10 a.m., and noon so that way we can keep crowd size down, people spaced. Our Spanish congregation has a Spanish service at 4 p.m. that day. We’re outside for good Friday. This is a lot better this year than just being huddles around our computers," said Kuhl.

Kuhl said even when indoor service at a higher capacity is allowed, they will continue to livestream for those who want to feel safe and worship from the comfort of their home.

On Saturday, two valley synagogues also displayed their makeshift operations to celebrate the first day of Passover virtually.

Many places of worship continue to take precautions as restrictions start to loosen back up.