‘GOD ON THE GO’

By Chris De Benedetti

The Oakland Tribune (TNS)

FREMONT, Calif.

As her car’s motor idled in the Holy Spirit Catholic Church parking lot and its headlights pierced the evening darkness, M.J. Johnson prayed with a church volunteer, asking God to help her father as he grieves for his late wife.

“I always feel that God is all around us and, if you ask for help, God will try to help you,” Johnson said, choking back tears afterward. “Prayer is such a powerful thing.”

That sentiment predominated on a recent Monday night, when dozens of people parked their cars — or a bicycle, in one case — to participate in Holy Spirit’s first-ever drive-thru prayer night.

“Think of it as ‘God on the go,’” said the Rev. Mathew Vellankal, Holy Spirit’s pastor.

“We have drive-thru food and drive-thru coffee in our society. This is drive-thru prayer.”

Vellankal said that a Florida parish was the first recently to offer drive-thru praying, and a quote from Pope Francis inspired him to bring the service to Fremont.

“Pope Francis says we should go where the people are,” Vellankal said.

“We live in a fast-paced society and if people don’t have an hour to pray, they might have a few minutes. So we want to offer a little comfort and solace to people who are extremely busy.”

The church had been promoting drive-thru prayer through its newsletter and by word of mouth.

And then parishioner Lalu Paul stood at a busy intersection during the Monday evening rush hour waving a sign that read “Drive-Thru Prayer.”

The ad hoc marketing worked, as a handful of church volunteers greeted about 35 visitors during the program’s inaugural hour, taking a few minutes to pray with each motorist.

Some prayed for divine intervention to heal an ailing family member, volunteers said. Others were stressed over life’s daily struggles and seemed in need of the human touch of talking with a stranger about their troubles.

Sometimes, the short prayer session left both visitor and volunteer in tears, said church volunteer Rosie Ritzman.

“So many times people feel alone and, hopefully, this lets people know that we care, that Holy Spirit cares,” she said.

“Lots of people are suffering, and sometimes the conversation gets emotional, on both sides.”

The church intends to continue the drive-thru prayer sessions indefinitely.

Holy Spirit Catholic Church, founded in 1886, is one of the area’s oldest churches. With 5,000 parishioners, it’s also one of the largest, church leaders said.

Vellankal said he wants to keep trying new ways to bring prayer to people because he suspects that even devout parishioners can get tired of church routine.

“We try to go to the level of the people,” he said. “We want to reach out to all of those around us with peace and love.”