We’re pretty deep into this outbreak by now. It's been ten days since we made the decision to stop large, in-person gatherings at Evangel. I'll remember the moment we pulled the pin as easily as remembering where I was standing when 9-11 took place. We’ll shut down the smaller gatherings (like midweeks and young adults) tomorrow. All of our connect-points as a church will move to the realm of virtual reality (weird. This song just started going through my head - your background music for the rest of this read). Worldwide Web, here we come.
We'll offer lots of opportunities for people to connect online, but will that really work?! It’s hard for me to really assess its success. Shoot, I can look as if I’m watching a Live Stream, but it's muted and I'm actually playing Zombieland in my son's bedroom. Are people really staying connected in the community over this season? There’s still really only one way to find out, and that’s by maintaining those face-to-face (virtual) or text-to-text conversations. It has to be personal contact. Easy to say, harder to do - especially when I consider that some 800+ people consider Evangel their church. It's easier to do one-size-fits-all Sunday gathering. For sure! But those days are over, at least for the foreseeable future.
Which also makes me think of our staff team, and how they’re needing to transition. Not only are we needing to consider a new way of doing local church without the Sunday gatherings, but also dealing with the reality that finances are not what they were even two weeks ago. Last Sunday (our first online gathering) saw our income flows reduced to 50% of normal. That's definitely related to the fact that people are forgetting because they’re not in a church on Sunday - out of sight, out of mind. But the underlining issue is that many have already lost jobs, or are fearful of losing jobs,
Speaking of losing jobs and economic challenges. It's tempting to stockpile. It makes so much sense on a practical level. But does it from the perspective of heaven's economic system? Had a dream last night that my daughter Jordyn was tithing a large sum of money as she was saving desperately for another season at Bethel's School of Supernatural Ministry. In the dream I knew this made zero sense in the natural. Then someone pointed that out, and that I should teach on this and how I led my kids into this kind of thinking (seriously, in a dream!). If the world system of finances is pay and receive, or spend and earn; the kingdom of God is clearly this: give and receive. It makes no logical sense, yet this IS how the Christian will weather the uncertainties of these current times. This I know.
So how do you teach that with no in-person gathering and thus no forced-into-listening audience? That's the million-dollar question.
Well, we’re not pulling the pin on anything yet, and I await our bookkeeper's report today or tomorrow to see where we're at now that we've had our second virtual Sunday. We've sent out notices to online contributors, I put together a catchy and tear-filled (kidding) little video on ways to give, etc. And we're making sure that people in Evangel know that we are flat out on the side of bills needing to be paid and on the side of ministry and activities (even though some of our staff are genuinely really sick).
I self-quarantined starting on March 15 because I was exposed to someone being tested for COVID-19. Add to that: I had just returned from Zambia. It seemed like a good idea to hide in the house.
And I am flat out. Turns out self-isolation is no longer so isolating. Sara and I both put in a very full week (she's half-time, but easily pulled a full-time week right alongside me). The thing about technology is that a pastor can literally do everything he does...anywhere! I talk about this more in Boondock Church. Because of the internet, you can do all the following from your kitchen table:
Sermon preparation (with little to no interruptions)
Sermon delivery (last week was the first time I’ve live-streamed, and our reach quadrupled)
Staff meetings (via Zoom, two great meetings last week)
Board and leadership meetings (multiple times last week, via Zoom)
Mentoring sessions (we spent 7 hours in mentoring sessions, and mentor many core leaders in Evangel - last week we connected with over 100 people in this format)
One-on-one meetings (lots, and lots, because people have time being shut in, via Zoom).
Creation of online content (again, people have time, and so we put it out there. 1.7k in Sunday engagement two weeks in a row, and over 700 views for the online Prayer Summit, making it our most engaged summit to-date).
So no, the life of a pastor is not tale-spinning out of control into obscurity. It’s more important now more than ever.
My work as a pastor is more important now than ever. Truly.
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