How an Atlanta Church Fought COVID-19 Early On​​ Javascript must be enabled to use this site. Please enable Javascript in your browser and try again. × Search search POPULAR SEARCHES SUGGESTED LINKS Join AARP for just $9 per year when you sign up for a 5-year term. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Leaving AARP.org Website You are now leaving AARP.org and going to a website that is not operated by AARP. A different privacy policy and terms of service will apply.

How One Atlanta Church Took on COVID-19

​Consistent messaging a vaccine drive and strong leadership have kept parishioners safe​

Pastor Wayne Mack (far right) with (from left to right) Georgia state Rep. Kim Schofield, church member Johnnie Wright and Mack’s wife Michelle. Courtesy Grace Place Church of God by Faith , no one really knew how long that battle might take or what it would look like for the suburban Atlanta church. At the time, Georgia was reporting fewer than 100 cases of the virus. Two years, more than 1.8 million cases in the state and 27,000-plus deaths later, Grace Place hasn’t lost a single member to COVID-19. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Even though the church is located in Clayton County, where fewer than 44 percent of residents are , more than three-quarters of Grace Place’s parishioners are fully vaccinated. Recently, the church hosted a pop-up vaccine clinic for the surrounding community to widen its reach. But it hasn’t always been easy to navigate the pandemic waters and to convey accurate information, says Pastor Wayne Mack, 61 . “As a congregation, we wanted to be a hub or catalyst in the community for connecting people with education and/or an opportunity to be vaccinated,” Mack says.

Defying the COVID-19 odds

Grace Place, a small Black congregation of about 100 members, has defied the odds. Nationally, African Americans account for nearly 14 percent of all COVID-19 deaths. To take on the virus, the church turned to its members and their expertise. LaBrentha Lonon, 52, a registered nurse in neuroscience at Emory University Hospital, works with stroke patients and in 2020 did COVID testing at a drive-through event with Emory colleagues. At Grace Place, Lonon leads the congregation’s medical team, which focuses on health and wellness. Another member, Benita Harris-McBride, 57, works for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and has a master’s degree in public health. Pastor Wayne Mack Courtesy Grace Place Church of God by Faith Heroine.​​ Lonon and Harris-McBride kept the congregation informed from a medical perspective while Mack hammered home this message: “Respect the virus.” He used to reinforce the idea that the threat the virus poses should be taken seriously. Before COVID-19 arrived in the United States, Mack saw a documentary about the and its impact. “I watched it and watched it again and again,” says Mack, who remembers thinking, Something is coming our way, and we need to be ready for it." Entertainment $3 off popcorn and soft drink combos See more Entertainment offers >

Fighting COVID misinformation

From the beginning, the pastor addressed about COVID-19, treatments and, eventually, vaccinations head-on. He took stances that weren’t always popular, including sticking with online services to keep people safe. In fact, the church still meets virtually. Every Zoom worship was an opportunity to talk about COVID-19 and its dangers. And Mack was able to combat misinformation he says he heard on conference calls with some local clergymen, who were reading religious significance into virus developments, continuing to hold in-person services or presiding over funerals where large groups gathered. “The virus was being politicized, spiritualized and theorized,” he says. His goal, he says, was to constantly evaluate new information with the congregation. Those conversations took the form of, “Let’s look at this. Let’s weigh this to see what merit this has.” With his own congregation, the pastor says, he tried to focus on a middle path — no extremes. “I was really proud of our congregation in the way that they responded to this.” Lonon recalls having to counter disinformation that fueled vaccine hesitancy. “They would always throw the conspiracy theory in your face,” she says. “ ‘Remember Tuskegee?’ ” Lonon says she felt confident in listening and responding, providing data about the numbers of Black Americans who received vaccine doses without suffering negative effects. “They’re not being injected with anything that’s harmful,” she says she told parishioners who had questions. Simply having those conversations in a respectful way often made people reconsider getting a COVID vaccine, she says. AARP NEWSLETTERS %{ newsLetterPromoText }% %{ description }% Subscribe , symptoms, social distancing and treatment. At the conclusion of Zoom services, Grace Place regularly held chats. Members would unmute themselves, and Harris-McBride and Lonon would take questions. “A lot of our response was based on Pastor Mack and how he exposed us to things,” says Jonathan Bellemy, 55, a member who contracted COVID-19 in March 2020, before vaccines were available. “There was a lot of misinformation at the time. Being able to reach out to Sister Benita [Harris-McBride] — and I called her several times — was so helpful.” But by November 2021, when the country neared a 60 percent vaccination rate, only 47 percent of Clayton County’s 134,774 residents had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 43 percent had been fully vaccinated. The church wanted to increase , so Harris-McBride suggested they include a vaccination clinic in the church’s annual holiday outreach programs. The church held a , in partnership with the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, MECCA Chapter, the Conference of National Black Churches and Walgreens, which provided nurses to administer Johnson & Johnson, Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, booster shots and flu vaccines. U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, a Georgia Democrat, who had already had COVID-19, got a flu shot at the event. After the delta variant surged and subsided and , Grace Place remained virtual, meeting via Zoom weekly to discuss COVID-19 and continuing its efforts to improve vaccination rates in the community beyond its church doors. Meanwhile, Mack preached about the harmony and connection between science and religion. “I told them, ‘I don’t care what’s being said. This virus is real. People are dying,’ ” he says. “I just dealt with the facts.” ​ MORE FROM AARP AARP NEWSLETTERS %{ newsLetterPromoText }% %{ description }% Subscribe AARP VALUE & MEMBER BENEFITS See more Health & Wellness offers > See more Flights & Vacation Packages offers > See more Finances offers > See more Health & Wellness offers > SAVE MONEY WITH THESE LIMITED-TIME OFFERS