covid

In an average year, many churches host a Thanksgiving meal or host some type of outreach. Obviously, 2020 is anything but average thanks to COVID-19. The unique dynamics of a global pandemic require us to think about every potential event a bit differently…including Thanksgiving.

Ministry is complex under normal circumstances, but in the middle of a pandemic, what once was overly-busy ministry is now a response to people in crisis. With World Mental Health Day around the corner on October 10, pastors can access tools, courses, and even conferences to better equip themselves in serving their congregations.

Faced with a global pandemic, churches around the world are adapting. The response has been incredible as churches have met fear and crisis with innovation and connection. In the midst of the first lockdowns, churches ranging from solo pastors to multi-campus congregations with thousands of members picked up the phone and worked through their rosters from top to bottom. Leadership and volunteers reached out via phone, text, and video to make sure needs were being met. Some referred to these as “COVID Calls,” others, “Wellness Check-Ins.” Social distancing has created challenges in care, and the way forward is not always clear. Pastoral care is changing and is more complex than ever before.

Around late summer, most churches start looking towards Fall and what events to host that time of year. Obviously, 2020 is anything but a typical year. Even planning weekly services is influx based on the spread of COVID-19 in your region. How do you prepare for an event 2-3 months out when you don't even know what next week will bring?

In June, after months of being forced to hold worship services in an online-only format (thanks to COVID-19), California churches were allowed to begin meeting in person again. This time, with a limit of 100 people or 25% of the building’s capacity. Just a few weeks later, Governor Newsom ordered that churches “discontinue singing” while gathered for worship services. This resulted in an uproar from many Christians. How can we hold a worship service without worshiping? How can the government dictate whether we praise God or not? Didn’t Jesus say that we must sing?

I have been leading worship in a full-time capacity for twenty-two years. Still, nothing could have prepared me for a global pandemic, hybrid worship, and a situation that began in our church on Sunday, March 15, 2020. On that Sunday, our worship team did most everything we would normally do on Sunday with one major difference… there was no congregation in our worship space!  Like most churches across the country, and around the world, we found ourselves in an unprecedented scenario. One no one could have foreseen and one for which no seminary education could have prepared us. Our church had to learn how to minister to our people solely through livestream technology on Sundays and Zoom meetings throughout the week. 

I am not a naturally gifted speaker. I have worked really hard to improve as a communicator. One of the areas I had struggled in for a long time was speaking directly to a camera. If you have spent many years speaking to a live audience, then speaking straight to a camera in an empty room is quite different. When the congregation laughs at a joke or is audibly engaged in the message, it builds my confidence as a communicator. It also gives me momentum as the sermon progresses. This all goes away when preaching directly at a camera.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve had to contend with a new normal. Phrases like 'social distancing' and 'contact tracing' weren’t familiar terms until a few weeks ago. Large gatherings aren’t safe anymore, so we’re all turning to online forms of meeting and communication. This, of course, includes weekly church services. With state governors ordering people to shelter in place, church leaders were left scrambling in recent weeks to ramp up or start from scratch with online streaming services and more.