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Redevelopment � facilitating membership and activity at established churches � is challenging in the best of times, much less during a global pandemic. As a pastoral intern in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 2021, Brandy Schneck �23 found purpose and success revitalizing a community of faith at Holy Cross Lutheran Church.

�When my supervisor, Pastor Matt Powell, got there in 2018, they had 18 members. When COVID happened, they had 50,� explained Schneck, who is working on her Master of Divinity. �When I arrived, the goal was to maintain the members they had and make everyone feel part of the worship service, even though they weren�t all there in person.�

The congregation had discussed preliminary plans to make hybrid worship more interactive before Schneck arrival.

�Pastor Matt said, �We�re going to work on this, figure out all the plans, and we�ll have it running halfway through your internship,�� she recalled. �Then two days later he said,

�Actually the congregation wants to do it right now.� So, we got the cameras and started.�

Holy Cross became the first church in the Rocky Mountain Synod with a fully hybrid Sunday service.

�We had people in the congregation and on Zoom, but it wasn�t just like watching on Facebook or YouTube.  Everyone was actually part of the service,� Schneck explained.

Schneck also led a weekly Bible study on Zoom that proved popular not only with Holy Cross members but other local churches.

�The Sunday service was important, but it was just as important for the congregation to be involved with the community and other ministries throughout the week,� she said.

Post-graduation, Schneck plans to continue working in redevelopment wherever she is needed, and she feels well prepared by her experience at Holy Cross.

�I take confidence from solving those challenges, and I also find so much hope from seeing how valuable relationships can still happen, even if we�re not in person together.�