Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus Christ!
We are entering the third week of our social distancing at St. James. Although it has only been two weeks since we suspended in-person ministry at 3650 Williams Drive, it feels a lot longer.
These are strange times in which to live. Distancing ourselves from others - the right and wise thing to do during a pandemic - feels somehow wrong. Even my introverted self is yearning for crowds. Life is topsy-turvy. Without a precise end date to the disruption, we need to be patient, flexible, and sensible.
As people of faith, we also need to be the church.
In theory, 'being the church' was never about the building. From the youth gathering songs of my adolescent years, we sang, "We are the church, the body of our Lord." More than one pastor proclaimed to me the theology that the church was a gathering of the baptized children of God. We came together to worship and serve.
In practice, however, when most folks talk about 'church,' they refer to a building, a specific spot where a particular group meets. People go to 'church.' Or they don't. The church is a location for socializing, prayer, inspiration, and life events (such as hatching, matching, and dispatching.)
Organizations and institutions need campuses to exist, thrive, and grow. Every club needs a clubhouse with plenty of parking.
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced St. James to lock the building on Williams Drive until further notice. The reality of social distancing means that we can not come together for worship, fellowship, and coffee. Some might say that the situation has canceled church.
Except, this is not true. No one has canceled church. Yes, some of the ways that we have practiced church are not happening. We are not coming together in one central place and won't be for a while longer.
We are "being church," nonetheless. In the past two weeks, almost a thousand people have worshiped using our Livestream capability. Another twenty people gathered for ZOOM Bible Study. Over one hundred thirty people are receiving a daily devotional on HOPE. Our confirmation students and our high school youth have come together virtually. Thirteen households attended Virtual Sunday School.
Our pastoral care team has made nearly eighty contact calls, providing one-on-one contacts. We established four phone check-in times for those without access to our online resources.
Using the technology - not a building - we are connecting and being church by sharing the love of God. I am grateful for the ministry of Jesus that we are doing in the face of this challenge. Our response reminds me of a line from a Marty Haugen hymn, Gather Us In; "Not in the dark of buildings confining, not in some heaven, light years away- here in this place the new light is shining, now is the kingdom, and now is the day."
Thank you for being the church together beyond buildings confining....
In Christ's Light,
Pastor Walt