Together while apart – doing church during a pandemic

What's Your Story? , Community , Church , COVID-19

The long, indefinite period of not meeting together because of COVID-19 can feel like an impossible time to be building community in our churches. But there are always ways for us to connect. Even Paul, when he was in prison during his ministry, found a way to connect with the early church using the technology of letters. Compared with Paul, we have a lot more tools available to help us keep and grow connections within our church communities.

Just about every person’s life across the globe has been affected by COVID-19 and although many of the adjustments we have had to make in our daily lives have been challenging, God is still at work and has a way to reach people with His love.

One of the most powerful ways to connect and share our lives, even while physically distant, is through stories. Hearing people’s stories of how they are coping during this difficult time can help them feel seen and loved, and allow us to learn more about the people in our communities.

At Heartlines, we have worked to put the power of story-sharing into people’s hands in many different contexts. Something like our What's Your Story? for Your Online Church resource might give you some ideas for helping your community connect during this time.

If digital access is challenging for your church members, you could circulate some daily encouragements on WhatsApp or text message, and make sermons available as voice notes or audio files that don’t require as much data to access as videos. Even taking a leaf out of Paul’s book and writing letters, or encouraging members to write to one another, can help people feel cared for and connected. Assigning church leaders to phone members of the church is also another way to meaningfully remind people that they have not been forgotten during this difficult time.

If many of your church members have the means to access the Internet, for instance on their phones, using Facebook can be a data-friendly way to make sermons and worship music available to them. Posting a follow-up question for discussion on Facebook could also give people a personal opportunity to connect over the sermon.

Something as simple as asking a thoughtful question can open a channel for people to share their lives and thoughts, and allows their church leaders to know them better and understand some of their responses to different things that happen.

Many of our What’s Your Story? resources have great question prompts that can help get people started in sharing their stories. Visit our resource centre at www.church.wysza.org to see all the free resources we have available.

Whatever church looks like for your community during this socially distanced season, people are longing for connection and taking a small step to reach out to them can have a big impact on their lives and your wider church community.

Featured image by CAPITOL STANDARD on Unsplash

Featured

You may also like

Leo moko A 58fw Ye GI8 unsplash a
Lindsey Moyo

The power of heritage in South Africa

South Africa has a complex past, so a day like Heritage Day can be met with mixed emotions. But what if we were open to exploring the aspects of our own heritage, as well as the heritage of those around us, to understand ourselves and each other better?

Read more about The power of heritage in South Africa
Money and church

Why we should talk about money in church

The Bible has a lot to say about money, but in church we often restrict our conversations about finances to tithing, church building funds and offerings. What can Christians do to help their faith communities get financially healthy?

Read more about Why we should talk about money in church
KZN Bridge Feature Image

Effective community mediation begins with empathy

Nobody wins during community unrest. At our recent peace-building Bridge event with clerics in the KZN region, the sentiment was clear: we cannot stand by idly and let division and unrest unfold. We need more community mediators.

Read more about Effective community mediation begins with empathy
Jhb Peace building Bridge 5

Building peace is the work of the Church

"The Church needs to become mediators in the event of unrest. We need to represent to people what peace is. Churches should be a place of refuge to all, regardless of whether they are members or not.” – Rev. Samu Khanyile

Read more about Building peace is the work of the Church
Elections and peace

Promoting peace during the national elections

The South African Council of Churches has called on all South Africans to seek peace ahead of the national elections in May and not to let messages of violence and hatred divide us.

Read more about Promoting peace during the national elections
Unsung Shero Image
Fikile Poka

Our unsung sheroes

For many women married to clergymen, there is little recognition of their existence and contribution to the growth of the ministries their partners are labouring in. We take a moment to honour them. 

Read more about Our unsung sheroes