BOARDMAN — Pastor Chuck Cunningham has been named the new pastor at Simon Road Church of God and has been adusting to giving his sermons in front of a live congregation to preaching in front of a camera.

Cunningham was working part-time as pastor at the church late last year and then was hired full-time earlier this year.

He said he started like many pastors, seeing his congregation each Sunday until things changed in March when services were moved to online.

“The church leadership team met and decided since a large portion of our church is over 60 who would be in the higher risk population susceptible for coronavirus, it was decided to cancel services and have them done online,” he said.

Cunningham through email does a daily devotional for the 50 members to provide words of comfort.

Cunningham said his wife, Lisa, helped him get ready for the first week of livestream recording his sermon on the church’s Facebook page using YouTube.

He said the first time for recording was a challenge. His wife used a cellphone, which was taped to stay in place to record the sermon, along with ear buds and a microphone, with an extension cord placed under the pulpit so people could hear him speak.

“I try to give as much normalcy to the service as I can under the current conditions. I want to create a sense that we are still here, and we will get through this,” he said.

Cunningham worked as a youth pastor / director at Chestnut Ridge Church of God in Hubbard from 2010 to 2018.

“During my time at Chestnut Ridge, the associate pastor James Bell and the senior pastor Rob McFall mentored me and I had a calling to be a church pastor. I was being led from youth ministry to being a senior pastor,” he said.

Cunningham soon earned his needed ministerial credentials through Church of God.

He began filling in as a guest pastor when other pastors with Church of God in Christ were on vacation.

An opening occurred at Simon Road Church of God when Pastor Edddie Howard retired after serving there for several years.

“I had always driven by the church and stopped here. I felt God was leading me to this church,” Cunningham said who applied for the position and was approved last fall.

Barbara A Cardarelli, church council chairperson, said the church feels blessed to have Cunningham, who had just started when the virus broke out.

“He has kept regular office hours throughout all this in order to keep in touch with everyone and has used his time to figure out how to rig a system with which to broadcast services and messages on a Facebook page he established. He puts his cellphone into an adapter meant for car use, which is duct taped to a microphone stand and whatever else he found that he could use, in order to send the videos. No one would possibly know how he is doing this using his “McGyver” skills and God-given talents to keep his flock close and fed,” Cardarelli said.

She said he deserves recognition for the determination to do what God has called him to do.

Cunningham said everyone is blessed with different gifts and talents and said, while preaching is one, learning to record the message using the newest technology may not be his gift.

“We’re just trying to do what we’re called to do using the resources that we have,” he said.