As our world responds to the COVID-19 outbreak by staying home, many churches are scrambling to keep the Body of Christ connected. At Saint James in West St Paul, thanks to some expertise among some of our staff, a passionate commitment to the Gospel, an a deep desire to bring the love of Christ to our entire congregation and beyond, we’ve quickly developed a collection of methods to bring church to the church.

Services

Since we’re not meeting live, there’s no reason to livestream the services, so we record them in advance and release them on our YouTube channel on the day of the service, recording multiple services on the same day but scheduling their releases for the correct Sunday and Wednesday (Lent services). We also embedded the service playlist on the front page of our website for easy access.

We also mail out DVDs of services to shut-ins, cable access channels, and nursing homes, and we’re working on using Dropbox for the cable access channels and nursing homes to avoid contamination.

Bible Classes

Because we have Google’s G Suite (free for nonprofits), we can use Google Meet for Bible classes. The leader speaks on his phone or laptop, and participants can either click a link to join in or call a phone number, thus allowing people to listen and ask questions live. Using a handheld recorder, the leader also records the class for those who listen on the website or subscribe to the podcast.

Youth Group

We’re using a combination of Google Hangouts & Google Meet for youth group. They tend to prefer Hangouts, since they already have it installed on their phones, but Meet is a decent option, too. It’s easy to have discussions, and for our first session, we played a combination of Charades and Pictionary. You can find plenty of word games online, or you can find a shared game like Kahoot. You can also use Google Jamboard for whiteboard games like Hangman.

Sunday School

Our teachers are sending lessons to the students’ families via email: the Bible reference and a summary and discussions questions for families to use with their kids, along with craft and other activity suggestions. They’re also calling each family every week to see how everyone’s handling the situation, reporting to pastors or elders if care is needed.

Committee Meetings

Each of our current groups uses whatever works for them. I’ve used Zoom (which has a free option, but the paid option is currently free during this situation) and Google Hangouts/Meet, but there’s no shortage of options. Workplace from Facebook is also currently free. Again, Google Meet has the phone-in option for offline members. We’re also looking into GoToWebinar for congregational voters’ meetings.

Ministering to Offline Members

I’ve already mentioned some offline strategies, especially conference calling via Meet. We’ve also implemented a call-in option (using our phone system) with a recorded service (like a voicemail message, but only an OGM) so people can call and listen to the most recent service at their convenience.

We also have a group of volunteer “phone angels” who are calling everyone (specifically offline people, but hopefully eventually checking in with everyone), weekly when possible, to see how they’re doing, making sure they can access services and classes, and offering to pray with them.

We also offer a weekly update via our website and share all new content to our Facebook page, along with our emailed and printed (sent with DVDs) Daily Prayers, which includes a Bible reading based on the pericopes and an accompanying prayer.

Church attendance is down. That’s partly due to living in a post-churched culture and partly due to more activities that compete for time. People’s schedules are jammed, and for many, church is less essential than so many other agenda items. Why?

The 20th Century approach to doing church presented the church as a member-based club like the Lions, Masons, or Girl Scouts. It worked well in a churched culture, and attracted people who were looking for that sort of community, but not so well for those not actively looking for it. The Church Growth Movement came out of this mentality, essentially creating competition among churches for numbers, focusing on butts & bucks (public worship attendance and offerings).

But that’s not working anymore. Honestly, it was never really working, because we never should have focused on those markers. They’re important, but they’re not measurements of success or effectiveness, and focusing on them can actively inhibit true success.

So how do we discover the problem? Go back to the start: Genesis. God created us in His image. (Genesis 1:26-27) Trinity: a multiple unity. The first problem? Being alone. (Genesis 2:18)  God solved this by creating Eve, also in His image. And when we’re isolated, things get bad. (Genesis 3:1-8) This has been demonstrated in the lab and has massive repercussions for legislation, parenting, and especially churches.

So if we’re created for community, why isn’t the church flourishing? We gather people together every week! I was listening to a leadership podcast with Glen Jackson, the co-founder of Jackson Spalding, which talked about how to compete, and it left me asking, “What is the church’s competition?”  I realized that the answer takes us back to the first problem: isolation.

When we gather, we look at the backs of each other’s heads! It’s not community any more than a movie theater except that we know the names of more of the people around us, usually. We might know some details through prayer requests, like illnesses or anniversaries. We might know some superfluous details through small talk before or after the service, like who went to the fair and what they ate there.

But think about the people sitting around you. Do you know how they struggle with sin? Do you know their life dreams, what they’re doing to accomplish them, or why they’ve given up on them? How many could you call up at 3 AM in a crisis, and they’d be glad you called and insulted if you didn’t?

Realistically, you can’t have that deep of a relationship with dozens of people. Outside immediate family, most people could only handle about a half-dozen, tops.

The answer, then, is small groups with no more than 6 people. These can be same-sex groups like Journey Groups, interest-based groups, or anything else. Topic isn’t all that important, but they need 2 components for spiritual success: safe vulnerability (created by an informal-but-explicit confidentiality agreement and willingness to unconditionally accept and forgive each other) and a framework to promote spiritual conversations, like a topic-based discussion, Bible study, or accountability group. Groups should meet regularly, face-to-face whenever possible, and stay in touch when not meeting. Serving others together in some capacity strengthens bonds, as does enjoying some entertainment together, and welcoming newcomers into the group expands the benefit to others. (Although when the group gets larger than about 6, it needs to multiply into 2 groups so it doesn’t lose its closeness. Friends should remain friends, but they’ll often find their level of connection changing due to each person’s social capacity.)

Other forms of communication (social media, texting, phone calls, greeting cards) can supplement this personal interaction, but they’re no substitute for sharing spaces and faces.

It’s no coincidence that the church grew exponentially in its early years through this method. (Acts 2:44-47)

So why did we give it up? I don’t know. But it’s time to take it back.

Churches don’t have to keep being ineffective in their communities and even within their walls. Pastor Dale Critchley offers a wide variety of tips to help churches of any size to fulfill the mission to which God called them.

This talk was originally shown at the Transforming Communities Worship Conference in Cleveland on May 18, 2013.

via Do’s and Dont’s of Transforming Towards Church Growth #TCWC13 – YouTube.

 

http://www.youtube.com/embed/gHQ-5s4m4Gk

The Michigan District offers monthly webinars on a number of topics, especially leadership. Sign up to know when the next one is, or watch the archived videos on YouTube.

via Webinars | Michigan District, LCMS.