A few months ago, I was talking with the elders about what it would mean to be a church in the future, and we spent some time talking about online-based church. We speculated that some would participate in their church online rather than in person. I remember saying an in-person experience was definitely preferable, but I said, too, if that’s the only way some would know church life, then online church was better than no church. The strange irony of that conversation was none of us had any idea that all of us would be forced, in a matter of months, into only doing church in an online capacity. The need for physical distancing has placed us in a situation where we’ve had to do everything as a church online.
While we may have had to learn as we go, I’m impressed with how quickly we’ve transitioned into operating online. Our Sunday morning worship is now done via live stream, with the option to watch it later. A big thanks goes to Marianna and Tony Gill for helping us create this worship. I’m now doing an online Bible study on Wednesday nights; just ask me if you’d like to join in. I’m using our church’s Facebook page as a place for connection. I try to do regular prayer and meditation videos there as an opportunity for some peace in this anxious time. I’m also doing a live broadcast there on Tuesdays at 1 p.m. as another place of connection. You can find all of that here: https://www.facebook.com/HazelwoodCC. If you’re not able to access any of these things from home, we’re able to send you a DVD of our worship that you could view from home; just let us know if that is something you need.
None of us know how long any of this will go. We all wish we could just go back to normal living, but the health reality has us doing things from home rather than together in a public place. I wonder, too, how many of these technological tools we’ll continue to use when we do return to normal living. Time will tell. But, I’ve been so impressed with how we’ve been coming together in this time of need to continue to be a church. You all have banded together to keep being church in this time. Let’s keep it up; let’s keep being the vital church we are and will be in the future.
Grace & peace,
Jason Jones
