Faith Works 7-11-20
Jeff Gill
How are we doing, friends?
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Count me in among those wanting to ban the word "unprecedented" from public statements for some time to come.
Strange days, indeed, and a time we look forward to seeing done and gone, but Colossians 4:5 bids us make the best use of the time we are given. So let's not "kill time" by wishing it past too soon.
For faith communities and gathered worship, the times are twisted and warped and bent entirely out of shape. As one of the few in my congregation in and out of the church building, it's strange to see flyers still up for March events (I keep meaning to take that down), and in the fridge downstairs are items which I need to . . . yeah, I put that off, too. Grape juice is really all we need to keep handy.
Yes, grape juice. We can have the fermentation debate some other time. Call ours a modern form of new wine, very new. But since we've gone from video worship to drive-in, I like to keep the visual element in our shortened service, of a poured stream of life-giving grace out of a pitcher into a chalice. Can they see the purplish-red glow in the back of the parking lot? Perhaps not, but on a crowded Sunday in former days, in the back rows inside, could they?
We're doing drive-in, on an FM low power broadcast, along with video devotions. It's extra work to keep uploading the video version of home worship, but in our case at least, it's certainly needed for those who don't or won't or can't come in a vehicle. I'm pleased with the response and how it's gone, but I have to admit we don't get much more than half our usual number of people we did in the "regular" worship indoors. Maybe 60%.
Video has been, dare I say it, seductive . . . Facebook likes to imply to us that we're now suddenly reaching many hundreds, even thousands, when practical analysis tells us not so much. YouTube can tell you harsher truths, about how long people watch your video, and even where and in what point of a program they click away. That's been instructive, even if some of what I've been learning isn't what I want to hear.
As a congregational minister, with video I enjoyed knowing that now my mother could watch messages (we were one of the churches that had not had any video content online before March and COVID), or have friends and colleagues many states away listen to my preaching – but the question always came back to how many of the flock, the local church, our own congregation was watching and staying connected.
There, too, we could figure out that we were reaching a majority of our church by uploaded video – but nowhere near all of them. Maybe . . . 60%. Which is much better than 0%, but still far from 100%. That's gone down a chunk since we added drive-in service, so together, online & parking lot, we figure we're reaching something around 80 some percent of our fellowship. Maybe 90.
As we look at where a number of churches have already gone, to indoor, "gathered" but distanced worship, I'll say here what I've said online and in person to many: there's no one right answer for every church. So much depends, frankly, on architecture and seating and layout, and that varies widely from building to building. Add in worship style and demographics and you have a formula with many variables. That's why I salute some who are carefully and responsibly back inside doing services, and shake my head at others.
For our church, we would probably have a hatful indoors at best, a few who are currently drive-in attending, a few who have been hungry for the video offering, and maybe a couple who've been "left behind" by all of this since March 15. But we'd need to probably keep low-power broadcasting for some who'd be staying in the parking lot out of personal prudence, and the video congregation has taught us some things about worship and connections we didn't know before as a church were needed.
So there's no obvious, simple path forward. We will do all we can for everyone we can as long as we can, but the challenge will be how many of the various platforms we can support sustainably. And may the day of jubilee come soon when this all is over!
Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and pastor in Licking County; he never expected to become a televangelist! Tell him how you're proclaiming good news through your church at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack on Twitter.
