This period of quarantine has been unlike anything I ever thought I would experience. I have learned a lot about myself as a pastor, mom and a child of God. I have had to look at the many areas of life and the things I do, and ask myself why do I do them this way and do I really do things the way God wants me to do them? On the good side, I realize that my best times of doing any prayerful dreaming and planning is early mornings. So, for those who have gotten an e-mail or message from me at 5:30 or even earlier, I promise I am okay. I have seen God work in amazing ways in my life and in our church. Things that may go unnoticed by many. I am called to make hard decisions and realize that my best laid plans do not always happen the way I or even others may want them to and this is okay. I miss seeing each of you and I find myself longing for the days when I could count on seeing most of you at least weekly. I never knew that I would not have that option. I have had to learn how to do everything very differently than how I once got things done.
I know some of you can’t wait to get back into our building, and some of you really question why we can’t just start back this Sunday. The truth is things are not the same and times are not easy. Things are not going to happen just as they once did. Most of us have been changed by this time, and I hope many of us can look at ourselves and see that we are becoming better people, stronger and closer to God then we once were. With that said, I have a plan but let me tell you what has informed this plan. First and foremost, prayer. Sometimes, God has been silent, which bothers me; but He was waiting for me to be silent. Again, the early morning and even in the middle of the night He speaks to me. Also, I listen to what the Governor and the President along with their experts have to say and what are their guidelines. I have talked with and asked many questions from some of our key leadership in the church. Finally, I also must listen to our Bishop who speaks to some of those same experts on the state level.
Our Bishop has advised that we do not have open worship for the month of May. In all that would mean that we would miss ten Sunday’s and two communions. So, I am finding, prayerfully, a way to work around that. Like how our governor has a “Phase In” step-by-step process, and so will we. I need all hands-on deck! I need those who cannot come out right now to be praying! I need those who are going stir crazy and really needing to do something to help me in this process.
Remember when I introduced to you our “Great Awakening Project”? It started with Regroup. This regrouping was divided into five areas, Discipleship, Outreach, Inviting, Nurturing, and Gathering. Amazingly God did this! We already have a Worship Team that have been focusing on our gatherings. Then our Prayer Team has taken the reigns to help lead us in nurturing one another. Then I got an e-mail from one of our members who really wanted to help us reach out in new ways. We have begun to pray and identify others in our congregation who also have the same passion and gifting; some of them have already been doing some outreach!
Then the pandemic hit, hard. This is not what I had in mind when I prayed for a way to move us into the replanting phase. God does indeed work in mysterious ways! I have read articles from ministry coaches and leaders who advise pastors to think of the new normal as a restart or to look at church life as a new church plant. Simply stated, what did not work before, is not working at all now and has changed. What did work, may not work the same as it once did. Change is not a bad thing, and not everything is changing. I still don’t know what the new normal will look like, and I am okay with that. I just want to see each of you again. I also know that we have new people coming to our church virtually, we have some who I have talked to on the phone that really want to come to see us in the building. Things are different already. We can have both, church online and church in person. We can reach a whole new demographic and still be here for those of us who have been a part of this family for years. Therefore, there is much work to do over the course of the month of May. Are you with me?
Phase 1: Online worship with virtual and doorstep communion. I have spoken to our worship leaders and others from the forming Nurture Team to offer live-streaming of our worship services. This is complicated and will be developing over the next few weeks. Also, and this is important, we will be doing Communion this Sunday. I will be blessing the elements and then offer them to our worship team. We have ordered prepackaged individual communion elements to pass out to everyone who want them. They will be blessed along with our traditional elements on Sunday. Some from our Nurture Team will be going out two-by-two to deliver them to those who want them. Please call the church office if you want elements delivered to your house; leave your name, address and how many are in your household. Of course, we can do this “contact-less” like the restaurants by dropping them off and praying with you from outside your door. For those able to view our service online via Facebook and YouTube, have some bread and juice ready.
Phase 2: Online discipleship and the beginning of additional small group formation. I will be going live on Facebook at two times, Wednesdays starting May 13th at 6:00 pm for a study on 2 Peter that will run through May 27th. Then again, the same study on for those whose schedules are more open during the day on Thursdays at 11am starting May 14th through the 28th. During this second week, the NextGen team will meet to discuss celebrating our graduates and VBS. There will be other bible studies we will offer this Summer. Starting in June, we will begin a new small group for those with anxiety. In June, the young adults will start offering Alpha, a combined worship and discipleship weekly gathering.
Phase 3: We will need to form the Invite team! I know we have individuals whose gifts are caring about those who visit our church and have a passion for hospitality. If this is you, please let me know! We will need to get us together, even over the phone, e-mail or virtually to talk about how we can welcome people when we are able to gather for worship as a big group!
Phase 4: Pull it all together. Tie up those loose ends. For better or for worse, we are ready! I would love nothing more than for us to be able to worship together on Pentecost which is May 31st. As I stated above, I have been talking with different people in the church on what we can do and what we need to do when we open the church building for large gatherings again. We have a nurse on our Trustees who has given us good guidelines. We already have some members who are cleaning the Sanctuary and will be cleaning the Fellowship Hall prior to opening as well.
In summary, please remember that we will be taking Communion this Sunday together. Call the church if you wish to have the prepackaged wafer and juice delivered to you. Be praying about what we need to do this month as we prepare to meet for the first time as a big family, like a big Homecoming celebration! And please pray for me and pray for one another. May God keep blessing you, everyday!
Moving Forward in May (our Phrase In)
Hello Church Family,
This period of quarantine has been unlike anything I ever thought I would experience. I have learned a lot about myself as a pastor, mom and a child of God. I have had to look at the many areas of life and the things I do, and ask myself why do I do them this way and do I really do things the way God wants me to do them? On the good side, I realize that my best times of doing any prayerful dreaming and planning is early mornings. So, for those who have gotten an e-mail or message from me at 5:30 or even earlier, I promise I am okay. I have seen God work in amazing ways in my life and in our church. Things that may go unnoticed by many. I am called to make hard decisions and realize that my best laid plans do not always happen the way I or even others may want them to and this is okay. I miss seeing each of you and I find myself longing for the days when I could count on seeing most of you at least weekly. I never knew that I would not have that option. I have had to learn how to do everything very differently than how I once got things done.
I know some of you can’t wait to get back into our building, and some of you really question why we can’t just start back this Sunday. The truth is things are not the same and times are not easy. Things are not going to happen just as they once did. Most of us have been changed by this time, and I hope many of us can look at ourselves and see that we are becoming better people, stronger and closer to God then we once were. With that said, I have a plan but let me tell you what has informed this plan. First and foremost, prayer. Sometimes, God has been silent, which bothers me; but He was waiting for me to be silent. Again, the early morning and even in the middle of the night He speaks to me. Also, I listen to what the Governor and the President along with their experts have to say and what are their guidelines. I have talked with and asked many questions from some of our key leadership in the church. Finally, I also must listen to our Bishop who speaks to some of those same experts on the state level.
Our Bishop has advised that we do not have open worship for the month of May. In all that would mean that we would miss ten Sunday’s and two communions. So, I am finding, prayerfully, a way to work around that. Like how our governor has a “Phase In” step-by-step process, and so will we. I need all hands-on deck! I need those who cannot come out right now to be praying! I need those who are going stir crazy and really needing to do something to help me in this process.
Remember when I introduced to you our “Great Awakening Project”? It started with Regroup. This regrouping was divided into five areas, Discipleship, Outreach, Inviting, Nurturing, and Gathering. Amazingly God did this! We already have a Worship Team that have been focusing on our gatherings. Then our Prayer Team has taken the reigns to help lead us in nurturing one another. Then I got an e-mail from one of our members who really wanted to help us reach out in new ways. We have begun to pray and identify others in our congregation who also have the same passion and gifting; some of them have already been doing some outreach!
Then the pandemic hit, hard. This is not what I had in mind when I prayed for a way to move us into the replanting phase. God does indeed work in mysterious ways! I have read articles from ministry coaches and leaders who advise pastors to think of the new normal as a restart or to look at church life as a new church plant. Simply stated, what did not work before, is not working at all now and has changed. What did work, may not work the same as it once did. Change is not a bad thing, and not everything is changing. I still don’t know what the new normal will look like, and I am okay with that. I just want to see each of you again. I also know that we have new people coming to our church virtually, we have some who I have talked to on the phone that really want to come to see us in the building. Things are different already. We can have both, church online and church in person. We can reach a whole new demographic and still be here for those of us who have been a part of this family for years. Therefore, there is much work to do over the course of the month of May. Are you with me?
Phase 1: Online worship with virtual and doorstep communion. I have spoken to our worship leaders and others from the forming Nurture Team to offer live-streaming of our worship services. This is complicated and will be developing over the next few weeks. Also, and this is important, we will be doing Communion this Sunday. I will be blessing the elements and then offer them to our worship team. We have ordered prepackaged individual communion elements to pass out to everyone who want them. They will be blessed along with our traditional elements on Sunday. Some from our Nurture Team will be going out two-by-two to deliver them to those who want them. Please call the church office if you want elements delivered to your house; leave your name, address and how many are in your household. Of course, we can do this “contact-less” like the restaurants by dropping them off and praying with you from outside your door. For those able to view our service online via Facebook and YouTube, have some bread and juice ready.
Phase 2: Online discipleship and the beginning of additional small group formation. I will be going live on Facebook at two times, Wednesdays starting May 13th at 6:00 pm for a study on 2 Peter that will run through May 27th. Then again, the same study on for those whose schedules are more open during the day on Thursdays at 11am starting May 14th through the 28th. During this second week, the NextGen team will meet to discuss celebrating our graduates and VBS. There will be other bible studies we will offer this Summer. Starting in June, we will begin a new small group for those with anxiety. In June, the young adults will start offering Alpha, a combined worship and discipleship weekly gathering.
Phase 3: We will need to form the Invite team! I know we have individuals whose gifts are caring about those who visit our church and have a passion for hospitality. If this is you, please let me know! We will need to get us together, even over the phone, e-mail or virtually to talk about how we can welcome people when we are able to gather for worship as a big group!
Phase 4: Pull it all together. Tie up those loose ends. For better or for worse, we are ready! I would love nothing more than for us to be able to worship together on Pentecost which is May 31st. As I stated above, I have been talking with different people in the church on what we can do and what we need to do when we open the church building for large gatherings again. We have a nurse on our Trustees who has given us good guidelines. We already have some members who are cleaning the Sanctuary and will be cleaning the Fellowship Hall prior to opening as well.
In summary, please remember that we will be taking Communion this Sunday together. Call the church if you wish to have the prepackaged wafer and juice delivered to you. Be praying about what we need to do this month as we prepare to meet for the first time as a big family, like a big Homecoming celebration! And please pray for me and pray for one another. May God keep blessing you, everyday!
Pastor Sommer Worley