OK, so I’m not the first person to write about the coronavirus and its effect on churches and how we operate and minister to our congregations. But to be fair, none of us knew a month ago (or even a week or two ago) that this pandemic would shut down almost everything and change almost everything else.
Like I mentioned in my last post, I started my MDiv this semester, and this is technically my Spring Break. I’m an online student, so it isn’t like a typical Spring Break anyway. I was hoping to get caught up on some reading and to finish a paper that’s due next Saturday. Instead, I’ve had to learn how to livestream our church services on the fly. Wasn’t expecting that.
The cool thing is that I’ve been planning to get us online for a while now. I’ve been researching best practices and gear so, when the time was right, I could pull the trigger on streaming with confidence.
Then we had to close for at least two Sundays if not more.
We already post all sermons to YouTube and our website, and we have a simulated live Church Online portal where folks can view a service every even numbered hour Pacific time 24/7. This week we’re adding Facebook Live.
If anyone is interested in the tech side of things, here are some of the tools we’re using…
If you have questions on how we’re using these platforms and tools, hit me up on social media or my contact page. I may not have all the answers, but if enough of us ask enough questions, eventually someone will come up with the answer. Or something. Maybe.
Look, a lot of us swim in uncharted waters in our ministries. If you’re in vocational ministry, take a look at your job description when you first started your current position. How close is it to your current reality? I’m guessing not very. Same goes for volunteers. Learning any new systems or procedures lately?
Not many of us thought we’d be video producers. But then we were. And still are. And will be.
Ministry is changing. The Church isn’t. The Church is still the Bride of Christ. The Church is still God’s plan for getting the Gospel to the nations. The Church is still important. The Church is its people. We may meet in different ways – some temporary, some ongoing. Be we meet. We worship. We work together. And we figure things out. God is worth our effort.
Not a Camouflaged Soul 