AP traveled to rural southwest Missouri, where two churches seemingly have little in common, but share faith in the face of adversity.
It’s a story of two churches in rural Missouri, only 30 miles apart — and worlds apart.
One congregation is mostly white, while the other offers services in five languages with members from around the world. The pandemic has united them, with pastors meeting every week to support each other, share ideas and figure out how to continue ministering as Missouri increasingly struggles with overburdened intensive care units and rocketing case numbers.
The New York-based team of national writer David Crary, youth and religion reporter Luis Andres Henao and video journalist Jessie Wardarski produced an all-formats package that seamlessly integrated this ethnic, racial, geographic and economic diversity, shining a light on communities that aren't famous American places but are integral to the nation’s identity.
Angela Tucker hugs her 5-year-old granddaughter, Charley Jones, as they pray with fellow congregants at Calvary of Neosho, a Southern Baptist church in Neosho, Mo., No v. 22, 2020. The issue of mask mandates has troubled local pastors, while Newton County, population 58,000, was recently hit by a surge of COVID-19, with about 3,000 cases and 40 deaths in late November.
AP Photo / Jessie Wardarski
Alinia Rogers distracts her mother, Nicole Rogers, as Pastor Joshua Manning, left, of the Community Baptist Church, delivers a sermon in Noel, Mo., Nov. 22, 2020. The afternoon service attracts a diverse mix of white worshippers and refugees from Myanmar. The pastor is assisted by Yei Min Oo, who translates the service for members of Myanmar’s Karen ethnic minority who worship at the church.
AP Photo / Jessie Wardarski
Pastor Joshua Manning of the Community Baptist Church visits Gideon and Gideon’s family after hosting a weekly church food pantry in Noel, Mo., Nov. 21, 2020. The family is one of nine refugee families from Myanmar living and working in Noel.
AP Photo / Jessie Wardarski
Pastor Mike Leake, of Calvary of Neosho, a Southern Baptist church, rests his head on his Bible as he prays during a service in Neosho, Mo., Nov. 22, 2020. The church resumed in-person services with added safety measures in May.
AP Photo / Jessie Wardarski
Avery Sandlin, 2, plays between rows of chairs spaced roughly six feet apart during church services at Calvary of Neosho, a Southern Baptist church in Neosho, Mo., Nov. 22, 2020. At the beginning of the pandemic, pastor Mike Leake halted in-person services for seven weeks. With virus infection rates low in the spring and early summer, Calvary resumed services in May. But this fall the county of 58,000 people was recently hit by a surge of cases.
AP Photo / Jessie Wardarski
Services continue as night falls at the Community Baptist Church of Noel in Noel, Mo., Nov. 22, 2020. The church houses five different congregations serving a diverse community including people from Mexico, Central America, Pacific Islands and Myanmar.
AP Photo / Jessie Wardarski
Pastor Luke Jesse of the First Marshallese Throne in Jouj church wears a mask as he baptizes Danny Baro in Noel, Mo., Nov. 22, 2020. After the coronavirus swept through the town of about 1,800 people, the First Marshallese Throne in Jouj and four other churches that worship at the building of the Community Baptist Church experienced a faith revival with an estimated 50 baptisms in three months.
AP Photo / Jessie Wardarski
Donated clothes fill several rooms of the Community Baptist Church basement in Noel, Mo., Nov. 21, 2020.
AP Photo / Jessie Wardarski
An American flag hangs outside the Landon’s Feed and Seed store located on Main Street in Noel, Mo., Nov. 23, 2020. The once predominantly white town of about 1,800 people near the Arkansas and Oklahoma borders has an increasingly diverse population, including people from Mexico, Central America, Somalia, Sudan, the Pacific Islands and Myanmar. Many came to work at the Tyson Foods chicken processing plant.
AP Photo / Jessie Wardarski
Peppers are scattered on a metal sheet near a chicken coop in rural Noel, Mo., Nov. 21, 2020.
AP Photo / Jessie Wardarski
Joann Konou closes her eyes during a Sunday evening service at the First Marshallese Throne in Jouj church in Noel, Mo., Nov. 22, 2020.
AP Photo / Luis Andres Henao
Meritha Jesse smiles at her husband, Pastor Luke Jesse of the First Marshallese Throne in Jouj church, as they sit together after Sunday services in Noel, Mo., Nov. 22, 2020. Pastor Luke says dealing with the coronavirus is like going to war.
AP Photo / Jessie Wardarski
A young boy watches intently as Myuki, right, prays during services at The Living Water Noel Micronesian Christian Church in Noel, Mo., Nov. 22, 2020.
AP Photo / Jessie Wardarski
GayBluewah Gaywah, 13, left, a congregant and volunteer at the Community Baptist Church in Noel, Mo., waves a plastic bag as he watches two food recipients leave the church food pantry, Nov. 21, 2020.
AP Photo / Jessie Wardarski
Pastor Joshua Manning of the Community Baptist Church knocks on the door of a parishoner who is a food pantry volunteer, in Noel, Mo.Nov. 21, 2020. He started the weekly pantry in the summer after the coronavirus ravaged the small town of about 1,800 people. Manning, his wife Lauren and their three kids all contracted the virus.
AP Photo / Jessie Wardarski
Noel, Missouri, population 1,800, was hit disproportionately by the spread of the virus. The town has a large immigrant population, including Pacific Islanders, Mexicans, Sudanese and refugees from Myanmar. Most arrived there drawn by the opportunity of a job at a local Tyson Foods chicken processing plant, and many got sick. AP has reported from the beginning about the superspreader meatpacking industry, but this all-formats story showed the families behind the numbers.
On the ground, Henao and Wardarski showed their ability to earn strangers’ trust, giving the pair intimate access to families’ lives. The reporting team attended five Sunday services in different languages and witnessed 11 baptisms in a day. They followed members of the congregations to a food pantry, hospital visits and baby showers.
They also closely documented how the leaders of two congregations have struggled to minister at a time when they temporarily shut their churches, self-isolated from loved ones and lost friends and family to the virus. And as it has for many others, the issue of mask mandates has troubled local pastors.
“A lot of them say, ‘I’m damned if I do, damned if I don’t,’” said pastor Mike Leake at Calvary of Neosho, a Southern Baptist church. “If you had a mask mandate, you’d have people leave your church. By the same token, you’d have some people leaving if you don’t mandate masks.”
At the same time, the coverage showed the kindness of small town life, with a strong video piece taking readers inside the churches and people’s daily lives. The story was published by hundreds of AP members and customers, and its video promo on AP’s Twitter page was viewed more than 68,000 times.
Crary received an email from longtime AP enterprise editor Chris Sullivan days after publication that sums up the story’s impact. Sullivan wrote: “The story is one of the most moving I’ve read in a long time and thoughtfully pushes aside any simple notions that readers may have about how their fellow countrymen and women are dealing with the pandemic, and what’s behind their ideas and actions. And I have to add that the images intimately and beautifully touch every aspect of what the words convey. The story began with a great idea and could not have been executed better.”
For compelling coverage of diverse communities united in adversity and navigating with faith, the team of Crary, Henao and Wardarski wins this week’s Best of the States award.
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