COVID19: March 21, 2020 - Churches

 It’s been a curious thing to watch how churches are dealing with the reality of a pandemic. And by “churches”, I’m talking about clergy, because those are my peers and they’re the ones I’m hearing from. I’ve noticed a variety of reactions. Some I share, and some I don’t, but I’m going to be presumptuous enough to speak for all clergy here, so please forgive me if you're a pastor and the exception to everything I describe.

For us pastors, our lives center around the church, and we live for Sunday mornings when the community gathers. It’s a lifeline for us and gives us strength in those times when we need it the most. As hard as this time of no in-person worship is for many of our parishioners, it’s even harder for us. And we’re having trouble letting it go.

We have been expending a lot of energy trying to figure out how to work around it. Some of us have ideas about drive-thru holy communion. Surely, there’s some way we can touch our people outside the building—wearing gloves and masks, using prepackaged communion.

Laypeople, please forgive us for thinking this way. We’re having trouble dealing with reality. Please remind us that gloves and masks are in short supply right now and those little prepackaged communion kits are on back order for months. And let us know that it’s impossible to approach someone with an open car window while standing 6 feet away, unless we plan to use something like a fishing pole to hand people the elements. And then we will need to thoroughly wash the pole between each person. So maybe we could just toss them into the cars? No. We need to just stop this crazy thinking. We need to let it go and live within our present reality, providing what we can.

I admit that as I look forward to Easter, I’ve been fantasizing about a drive-in experience in our parking lot. It will basically be a Facebook Live event with everyone in their own cars on their own phones. And they could bring their own bread and wine from home so no one will ever have to get out of their car; we will be together in our individual bubbles. Could this work? I don’t know. But is it really necessary? Of course not.

Many of us have come to accept our new reality, and we’re doing what’s possible within it. I will say that I haven’t yet been able to binge-watch on Netflix, and I’m disappointed by that. As an introvert, I was looking forward to this time apart, thinking it would be much like extended snow days. But these have not been at all like snow days for me. I’ve barely had time to eat. I’m figuring out how to help hungry people get the food they need. I’m meeting with Stephen Ministers (on zoom) who provide care for those who are struggling. I’m organizing people to send letters and make phone calls to others in the congregation, so we can stay connected and care for one another. I’m facilitating daily prayer support groups on Zoom. I’m overseeing communication with the congregation. I’m prepping for online worship on Sunday morning, something that is entirely new for me. I'm planning ahead for how to make Holy Week and Easter meaningful for my congregation in diaspora. And I’m blogging every day. What I need to do is relax. Hopefully, that will come.

I’m coming to realize that as important as the things that happen in and out of the church building where I work are, right now there are more pressing things in our world. It’s humbling to know that. I’m growing to accept it. Along with the fact that I have no control over any of this. I’ll do what I can, and trust that, even where two or three are not gathered together in Jesus’ name, he’s still in the midst of us.