Staten Island pastor ministers during COVID-19, grows love for NYC that began 30 years ago at Liberty

Liberty University alumnus and Staten Island, N.Y., pastor Dave Watson (’82) has faithfully ministered to his church family throughout the tragedies and uncertainties of COVID-19.

Watson has been the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Staten Island for 30 years. The Massachusetts native graduated from Liberty in 1982 with a bachelor’s degree in Biblical Studies and again in 1985 with a Master of Divinity. He then ventured back to Blacksburg Va., where he learned from a pastor of a small church how to lead a body of believers.

Watson and his wife, Debra (’82), moved to the New York City borough of Staten Island in 1990 so Watson could serve as the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel.

“We came to this church five years after it started,” Watson said. “We didn’t have a building or facilities, but we did have a decent-sized group of people. Since the time that I’ve arrived, we’ve added buildings and paid off a mortgage. We wanted to serve one church and invest in one area of the world for our ministry life and the Lord has allowed us to do so.”

Watson’s love for the people of New York City actually began while he was at Liberty, when he was connected with The Manhattan Bible Church to intern for two consecutive summers in 1980-81.

“After that time spent in NYC, I just really wanted to someday come back,” he said. “I loved the fact that it was unreached and that I had the opportunity to talk to people who didn’t know Christ. It isn’t culturally Christian up here like it is down in the South.”

Watson and his family watched as NYC became a COVID-19 hotspot. They, too, ended up contracting the virus. Providently, they did not have symptoms beyond those of the common cold.

“I had a fever for probably two hours,” Watson said. “My wife and one of my daughters had a fever and my son was sick for maybe a week. But it was never anything more than a sore throat and loss of smell and taste. About a week after I had the fever, I woke up in the middle of the night covered in hives. I think that was the virus leaving my body.”

Sadly, four of Calvary Chapel’s members who already had preexisting health conditions passed away over the course of the pandemic after being diagnosed as COVID-19 positive.

“It’s always hard to let people go, but to let them go and not be able to be there in the hospital with them or do their funerals in a normal way was very difficult,” Watson said.

He said that despite the Big Apple’s shutdown, the city has not been in the panic that many outsiders have believed it to be in.

“It’s very calm here, but before it shut down, the city was in denial,” Watson said. “It was obvious that no one wanted to admit that there was going to be a huge problem. Since the shutdown, Zoom has become a part of our vocabulary and we have used it as a way to continue our ministry with our church family virtually.”

Watson said that he has seen some positives come from this difficult season.

“But people here are not as anxious as many people think. The wonderful thing about N.Y. is that when a crisis hits, it becomes like a small town. Everybody slows up and really looks out for one another.”

As Watson navigates through the difficulties of being separated from his church body, he said he still reflects on his days as a Liberty student to help carry him through.

“This has been very hard because these people in our church have become like family to us,” Watson said. “I draw on my time at Liberty every day of my life. The model that (Liberty founder) Dr. Falwell laid down for those of us who were going to pastor was very inspiring. His example of sticking with it when things got tough is something that I’ve tried to follow.”

Even 30 years later, he shares the same mission as his alma mater.

“Our goal here is to reach Staten Island for Christ. We’ve done everything we can to reach every facet of our community. We got that from Liberty and from  Dr. Falwell’s example.”