When Justin Benefiel accepted the role as lead pastor of New Home General Baptist Church in Poplar Bluff, he knew it would be a challenge. What he couldn’t have known was that he would be a new pastor in the midst of the COVID pandemic.
Benefiel accepted the position at New Home as the successor to Rev. Calvin Buhler, who retired after 38 years as lead pastor at the church, located at the intersection of highways B and AA in Butler County.
His new ministry began in December 2019. In a few months, the COVID outbreak would change everything.
“I wouldn’t have wanted it,” Benefiel said of the pandemic, “but I never would have not wanted to go through it.”
“It showed the resilience of the global church and New Home Church,” he said.
“COVID forced us to come to grips with things,” Benefiel said. “It showed how much New Home loves this community and loves Jesus.”
“Even through the shutdown, moving to virtual worship, through all obstacles, we kept Jesus at the center,” he said.
Benefiel came to New Home after previous positions as a missionary to Saipan, a student pastor and a worship leader. He carries on a family tradition, as his parents and grandparents have all been active in Christian ministries.
He says he saw the strength of many churches made evident through the pandemic. One of his first initiatives was the move to online worship services, which were mostly new to New Home.
“That first Sunday online, at the end of the service, everyone sat down and said, ‘That was different,’” he recounted. “It’s an experience that helps create bonds and relationships.”
“I’m thankful as a pastor for the faith and trust put into me to be able to manage the church,” Benefiel said.
New Home has maintained in-person services along with online worship offerings through most of the pandemic, although they did close for two weeks in November 2020 during an outbreak.
“We’ve been able to come back and self-regulate,” Benefiel said. The church’s large sanctuary has every other pew roped off for social distancing.
“To see an 80-year-old woman start a Facebook account so she can see church shows me how resilient humanity is,” he said.
“Cool stuff is happening when you let Jesus be the center.”
New Home’s worship is held at 10:45 a.m. on Sundays.