The following article is written for Bethel, but it has applications for other congregations.
Where there is no vision, the people perish.
Proverbs 29:18 [KJV]
Do you remember back at the beginning of 2020? Churches and leadership gurus were very excited to be able to talk about 2020 as the year of vision and clarity because, if you have 20/20 vision, you can see well without requiring vision correction.
Then in mid-March, the conversation shifted severely to how churches could survive COVID-19, and what would be required of churches and church leaders. How would we worship, sing, communicate, care for each other, learn, serve …? Churches are people-oriented. We are community-oriented. How are we to have “vision” when we can’t see and when the landscape has changed so quickly? We’ve had to use more technology, but to some people, using technology can seem cold, out of touch, and simply not like “real” church. What will our congregations look like and feel like after all of this is over? Will members drift to other congregations?
The questions and concerns are virtually limitless.
And yet … Bethel is still called to be Church.
Whenever and wherever the people of God have been under persecution, have been oppressed, and have not been able to worship as they are accustomed, we continue to be the living and active people of God. Yes, we have to adapt. Yes, it becomes harder to see what the future holds. In “normal” times, our calendar planning starts with the questions: “What did we do last year?” and “What do we need to be able to do that again?”
Because of the presence of COVID, we don’t have that luxury. Over the years, we’ve joked as we asked, “How many Lutherans does it take to change a lightbulb?” with the answer, “None, because Lutherans don’t do change.” Now we have to change. Now we are shaken and made uncomfortable. Now we are not called to see this time of COVID as a time of hibernation. Instead, it is a time of growth and becoming.
The people and businesses that will not do well through this time are those who remain firm that things must be as they always were. Restaurants and other service and hospitality industry businesses are focusing on their purpose and tapping into their creativity as they ask: “How can we continue to serve our customers?
The people of God have been in similar circumstances before, and we will adapt and continue to serve the mission of Jesus Christ.
What will 2021 be like? My guess is that it won’t be easy.
Airplane pilots are taught not only to fly using visuals during daylight hours on clear, sunny days, but to fly when they can’t see at night, through clouds, in bad weather conditions by using instruments, which are other tools that allow them to “see.”
People of faith are not only to see using our eyes, but also our hearts, minds, souls, and our ears. How and when will we navigate a return to in-person worship and other in-person activities? How will we continue to minister to people online who can’t be physically with us in worship or who are not ready to do so? One thing seems clear to me … that we will need to continue having meaningful online worship.
It can be difficult to discern God’s call for us now, but we focus on our core. Who are we as a congregation? What are our gifts and how is God calling us to use them right here and right now?
Bethel’s leadership will continue to communicate and interact with the congregation as we move forward. While we’ve done our best since March, we recognize that there are ways we could improve.
Since we are a community of faith and a family of believers, I need to ask a few things of each of our Bethel members:
- Pray – pray for me, Bethel’s leadership, our congregation, and especially those who are ill and isolated.
- Communicate – please let me know what you’re seeing, thinking and feeling. While it’s important that leadership creates opportunities for dialog, it is impossible to know if we’re hearing what we need to hear. We need to hear from you.
- Reach out – many fellow Bethel members are not feeling connected as they normally do when we are meeting face-to-face. Part of our core is caring for our people. The Congregational Care Team and I are doing what we can, but caring for people is the work of the whole congregation.
- Adapt – this one can be hard. I know that technology is not a good way for some of you to worship. I ask you to please try it at least three times—preferably the service on Zoom so you can see other people. My mom had a 3-bite rule when I was growing up. The first bite of an unfamiliar food gets you over the hurdle of getting the food in your mouth. The second allows you to get more familiar with the food and start to taste it. With the third bite, you can really taste the food and determine whether it’s for you. Even if online worship is not your favorite or your preferred way to worship, it can at least feed your soul in the meantime until we can meet again in person. You’ll never know if you don’t try it.
- Be active – as we go a little longer in a primarily online style and then begin to move to in-person worship at some point this year, please be active in that movement. Volunteer, encourage, serve, and be patient. Some of our asking may be by personal invitation while some will be through announcements. Please pray and respond as you are able.
- Try new things – The way most churches operate in the future will not be what they were preCOVID. There may be some expense; we will most likely have to change some of the ways we do things like receiving offering, receiving Communion, and sharing the peace.
As we begin the New Year, I am thankful for the many leaders and staff, especially the Executive Committee, who have been very involved in not allowing us to see this time as a time of hibernation, but a time of activity and growth. Together, we are learning how to fly, not by sight but by instruments, as we rely on the Holy Spirit to lead us and give us vision for this new time where there is no guidebook for how to be Church during a global pandemic.
God bless you as together we follow the leading of the light of Christ.
In Christ,
Pastor Jeff
From the January 2021 Bell Tower newsletter [link]
Epicurious Lutheran 