Rev. Marcus Allen at Mt. Zion Baptist Church, which he's kept closed since March 2020.
The Rev. Marcus Allen describes the past year as a rollercoaster for his family and church.
Some of his hardest days have been losing members of Mt. Zion Baptist Church, the largest Black church in the city. Allen remembers accompanying two families to the hospital as they said goodbye to their loved one.
Early April was also a difficult time. That’s when Allen’s mom became infected with COVID-19 and was hospitalized for a week. He couldn’t visit her during that time but she pulled through.
Throughout the pandemic, Allen weighed whether to reopen the church, which has been closed since March. To many of his members, Mt. Zion is more than a place of worship. It’s where family comes together.
Allen knew how many of his members were struggling — parents trying to get by, children feeling isolated and lost, senior citizens cut off from one of their only forms of in-person contact — and what bringing everyone together could do for their spiritual and mental health.
But each time Allen considered reopening, COVID-19 cases surged. So he kept the doors closed and continued with online church services. During months of nice weather, he also offered parking lot services.
Amid all of the hurt, Allen saw some hope, too.
Mt. Zion paid off its mortgage, raised $400,000 for community needs and started a mental health clinic. Church members got married. Babies were baptized. Allen’s daughter graduated from UW-Madison, an achievement the family celebrated from their basement instead of Camp Randall Stadium.
“We’ve done a lot of great things in the midst of what I’d consider chaos,” he said.
As vaccination efforts ramp up, Allen wonders where underserved communities like his, who have been disproportionately harmed during the pandemic, fit into resource allocation.
He’s also fielding questions from church members about whether the vaccine is safe, a skepticism he understands given the country’s troubling history of using Black people for medical experimentation, such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study from 1932 to 1972 in which Black men were told they were being treated for the disease when in fact they were not.
“We’re trying to communicate that it’s safe,” he said of the COVID-19 vaccine. “It’s a hard task.”
Picturing a pandemic: See the last year through the eyes of the Wisconsin State Journal's photographers
At least 28 Madison-area restaurants closed last year while 91% of businesses reported revenue declined. Though the economy has begun to recover, the pandemic's major financial toll continues. Hawk's Bar and Grill, shown here last March, remains open.
Tammi McCarthy and her children, Kenadie, 8, and Kullen, 5, adjust to making educational studies a part of home life as they work on a table especially-assembled for school work in their home in Sun Prairie on March 18, 2020.
India Anderson-Carter, right, learns that she will be a resident in obstetrics and gynecology at UW-Madison through a Virtual Match Day, due to COVID-19, hosted by UW School of Medicine and Public Health, as her family, including her sister, Lexus, at left, react to the news in the basement of her parents' home in Madison on March 20, 2020.
Hanah Jon Taylor plays the saxophone outside his jazz club, Cafe Coda on Williamson Street in Madison on March 21, 2020. The cafe was ordered to close along with bars and restaurants across the state.
In hindsight, the sign on the Orpheum Theater on State Street in Downtown Madison, pictured here on March 23, 2020, was overly optimistic. Closures of theaters, restaurants, bars and other businesses would stretch well beyond March.
With the "Safer at Home" order from the governor, traffic volume fell dramatically in Madison. The view is of West Washington Avenue on March 25,2020.
A window decorated by Amina Diallo, 10, at her home in Deforest offers support to essential workers continuing their duties in the midst of the pandemic. Part of a nationwide effort to show appreciation for those whose careers are required during the global health crisis, each color represents a different line of work. Among the groups included are health care workers, of which her mother, BethAnn Soiliman-Abdalla, a nurse, is included. She is pictured at her home on April 1, 2020.
Dr. Matt Nolan shares an "air hug" with his son Condict, 3, outside the family’s home in Madison on April 2, 2020, as his wife, Dr. Maggie Nolan, holds their son Arthur, 1, with Charlotte, 6, nearby.
Doug Milks clean voting booths after they were used at East High School on April 7, 2020.
Town of Dunn resident Robert Wilson reviews his selections on his ballot while voting at the town's highway garage building on April 7, 2020.
Family members and friends of Donald Harrop celebrate his 103rd birthday through a closed doorway at the Milestone Senior Living Center in Cross Plains on April 24, 2020. Born in 1917, Harrop has now experienced two pandemics, the Spanish Flu of 1918, and the current COVID-19 crisis.
Long-time friends, from left, Mary Power, of Fitchburg, Karen Kilroy, of Stoughton, Jane Morgan, of Oregon, and Pattie Sartori, of Stoughton, at right, practice social distancing as they gather for an overdue visit, which included sharing books and food recipes, at Waterman Triangle Park in downtown Oregon May 6, 2020.
A statue of Abraham Lincoln, a traditional gathering spot for photos of graduates at UW-Madison remains fenced-off to visitors as the university takes precautions against the spread of the COVID-19 virus on May 7, 2020.
UW-Madison graduates, from left, Jacob Tottleben, of St. Louis, Lindsey Fischer, of La Crosse, and Olivia Gonzalez, of Milwaukee, open bottles of champagne at the State and Park Street crosswalk to celebrate after watching their virtual spring commencement ceremony on the rooftop of Fischer's apartment on May 9, 2020.
Jeff Langner, right, works with Patricia Grillot, Madison, on finding the shoes on the first day that Morgan Shoes was open again on May 12, 2020.
Members of the Wisconsin National Guard setting up a new site to collect samples from people in their vehicles at a free community testing site for COVID-19 at the Alliant Energy Center on May 13, 2020.
Lynn DuPree, front, and John Burgar, both of Madison, use slot machines that have protective dividers between them at Ho-Chunk Gaming Madison in Madison on June 9, 2020.
Dan Tortorice, center, with his grandchildren, Aria Oettiker, 9, left, and her brother, Anthony, 6, during a visit to Vilas Zoo on June 18, 2020, the first day of the reopening since it closed due to the pandemic.
Members of the UW-Madison marching band wear face coverings and play instruments with bell covers during a limited capacity practice session on the campus on Aug. 27, 2020.
With students seated at a distance from each other, UW-Madison philosophy professor Harry Brighouse leads a discussion in an Ingraham Hall lecture room on Sept. 1, 2020.
A sign in a window at Sellery Hall, one of two residence halls at UW-Madison that were on day one of a 14-day quarantine on Sept., 10, 2020.
Unloading food at Sellery Hall. Witte and Sellery Halls were on day one of a 14-day quarantine on Sept., 10, 2020.
Pastor Karla Renee Garcia holds a service in the parking lot at S.S. Morris Community AME Church on Milwaukee Street in Madison on Sept. 13, 2020.
A largely foreign concept in the U.S. before the pandemic, the custom of wearing a mask to protect others when you're sick might remain.
Election Day voting at Olbrich Botanical Gardens on Nov., 3, 2020.
Staff members confer in the COVID-19 unit at UW Hospital in November.
Kate Dale, left, and her sister, Meg Prestigiacomo, with a picture of their mother, Anne Heine, who died from COVID-19 in July on her 73rd birthday, outside Prestigiacomo's home in Madison on Nov. 19, 2020.
No spectators are allowed in the Kohl Center due to COVID-19 as Wisconsin Badgers take on Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions in a men's basketball game on Nov. 27, 2020.
Members of the Lodi basketball team spread out on the bleachers when not playing, during a game against New Glarus at Lodi High School in Lodi on Dec. 11, 2020.
Members of the Wisconsin Badgers volleyball team celebrate a point during the second set of a season-opening Big Ten matchup against Purdue at the Wisconsin Fieldhouse on Jan. 22, 2021.
In this Series
6 lives disrupted: How COVID-19 changed Madison
Kelly Meyerhofer | Wisconsin State Journal
Kelly Meyerhofer covers higher education for the Wisconsin State Journal. She can be reached at 608-252-6106 or kmeyerhofer@madison.com.
