Something new

I’d like us to try something.  

The work that goes into recording Sunday morning for our church community is excellent and really appreciated.  Someone made a comment that it was great to see familiar faces after that first recorded Sunday, and I wholeheartedly agree.  I’ve missed being in church these last number of Sundays, and there’s no telling how much longer this will continue.  If I had to guess, it’s going to be months.   

That first cancelled Sunday morning, I went to church at about 1045am in case someone didn’t hear that it was cancelled or didn’t get the email.  It was really odd, knowing that it was a Sunday morning, to walk into a darkened sanctuary and sit there by myself in the dim stillness thinking about our church community and praying.  I’d invited any Visionary Board members who were able to join me and after a little while someone did.  We talked about some of the challenges to come, prayed together, and then we left.    I think we’d all agree that church is important – for learning, for encouraging one another, for worshiping.  The church is more than a building, of course; the church is a community of believers.

And I think we’d all agree that our community – the relationships we share with one another – is important.  So then, how do we maintain a sense of community in a time when we can’t meet together?  Better yet, how do we grow our sense of community, both in the sense of valuing and strengthening our relationships with each other, but also extending community to those around us?  

I’d like us to try something.  Every week, someone will be posting on our church FaceBook page and our website something about what life is like for them.  It might be what they’re going through, or what they’re learning about life under these restrictions, or what they’ve learned about God recently.  I’m going to encourage people to comment on whatever is posted.  This is likely going to be more important than what was posted in the first place, because it then becomes a forum for us to “talk” to each other, to encourage each other, to empathize with each other – to build and strengthen our community.  

With that in mind, how are you staying connected with others in our community?  Do you have any suggestions about what we can do to maintain or grow this community?  

I’d really like to hear your thoughts.    (I’ve gone this without mentioning COVID-19!  I’m probably more pleased about that than maybe I should be.)