Given the new reality of our world with COVID-19’s takeover, many of our regular meetups with friends, family and loved ones are conducted over video chat apps and programs like FaceTime and Zoom.
Between technical issues and people simply not knowing how to use it effectively, Zoom, in particular, has yielded some hilarious experiences for many during this quarantine. Saturday Night Live hit the nail on the head with their recent skit about holding a church service on Zoom, which aired during their May 9 season finale.
In the skit, Kenan Thompson portrayed the pastor at Mount Methuselah Tower of Prayer Baptist Church, who was hosting their Mother’s Day service. Before the service officially begins, he urges members of the congregation who are on the call to mute their microphones in order for his message to be heard by himself and others.
“The way that this Zoom machine works is that every mic is as loud as mine,” Thompson says. “I can hear y’all agreeing, which means that you’re not taking a note...how about nobody say ‘amen’ after I say ‘amen’…Amen?” Of course, no one truly listens to him, which prompts the pastor to realize “this will be a longer than usual four-hour service.”
Throughout the skit, instances of churchgoers not muting themselves occur, such as Connie Johnson (portrayed by Ego Nwodim) yelling at her children to “sit [their] little asses down and be quiet,” and Latrell J. (played by Chris Redd) attempting to get his choir ready to sing.
All in all, this is a pretty spot-on skit. (I just witnessed my first Zoom church service over the weekend, and it was as entertaining and glitchy at the beginning as this). We’re hoping they don’t have to last all that much longer.