I am in the “studio” this Sunday morning – except it is Saturday and I’m going to confused all week. I got up early like I do on Sunday, got dressed up like I do on Sunday (as all respectable pastors do!), came into the church to finalize my sermon and preach it, like I do on Sunday. This time, though, it will be in an empty worship center with cameras and microphones. We recorded the music on Wednesday and are adding my sermon today. We decided to go with prerecorded rather than streaming our services – for us, that just worked better. COVID-19 hasn’t hit here yet but everything is closed and we felt this was the most responsible decision we could make.
You’ve seen the meme, haven’t you? Now, we are ALL televangelists!
I would make the following observations, for me:
- Cancelling goes against my grain. We are the last church in Siouxland to cancel for snow, but after much discussion with our leaders, we felt this was our best choice. We have a lot of older people in our congregation and this was the choice we made.
- When the idea of canceling first came up, I wondered what I’d be doing with my time. This has been the busiest week I’ve had in a LONG time.
- I was supposed to be on a plane to Africa today. Still sad about that.
- We are still meeting for prayer on Wednesday night, with the small group that gathers, but will pull the plug on that at any time.
- We have been meeting to devise a plan to minister to the needs of our elderly congregation in this crisis time.
- Yeah, I am a bit concerned with the money aspect of things. Our church folks are not into online giving and we are not exactly sitting on a gold mine here. If this lasts two or three weeks, we will skate by, I think. If it goes on for 2 months, we may be in a bit of trouble. If some of the dire predictions about recession/depression take hold, who knows? I know that I can trust in God, but as pastor, I have concerns about these things.
So, I wonder what YOU are doing and how YOUR church is responding. Tell us how it is going, what struggles you are facing. Are you recording worship? Live-streaming? Still meeting? How are you ministering to your congregation in all of this? What are your concerns?
Please, no one needs to assume that they are the judge and jury for other churches. We did what we believed was best. It goes against EVERY fiber in my being to cancel, but I am content it is the right decision – for us. If you disagree, fine. But I think it might be interesting to hear what other churches are doing.
