Engagement during isolation

[Naomi4Christ]

I was wondering what engagement in your churches have been in the last 4 weeks or so.

My impression is that any kind of formal worship has increased. Our YouTube connections are 3x the physical numbers that come through our doors, and those YouTube connections will have multiple people watching at the same time.

Our prayer meetings on Zoom are at least 5x the usual number of participants. Home groups continue on Zoom.

We have added morning and evening prayer to our usual offering, and are having lots of regulars joining in, as well as community engagement via Facebook.

Our toddler group has more sessions and is open to the wider community.

Our preschool has online lessons/activites, much of which are to support parents as well as children.

As a warden, I can engage on worship and teaching instead of worrying about whether the toilets are flushing.

We have been on Easter holidays, but will get back to our normal meeting schedule in the next week. I don't see why any of our meetings can't happen, except for our APCM.

The main objection to the Christian faith is that God allows suffering in this world, and the stock answer is that we live in a fallen world, but that God uses this suffering for good. I am convinced that this is happening now. PTL!

 

[seeking.IAM]

I think we have certainly learned to worship in different ways. My church is offering video morning and evening prayer a few times a week, two virtual coffee gatherings, and some meditational reflections shared by individual members. I think it has been very good to help us worship together in different ways and to stay connected. I can't say if we are reaching more people, but I can say it has reached me in meaningful ways.

...As a warden, I can engage on worship and teaching instead of worrying about whether the toilets are flushing.

I just termed-out from the Finance Committee, the Vestry, and as Senior Warden. I cannot help but worry about how church finances are doing during this time, although it is not formally my responsibility anymore. Naomi, any sense of whether giving is holding up for your church when people aren't gathering formally?

 

[Naomi4Christ]

Naomi, any sense of whether giving is holding up for your church when people aren't gathering formally?

I won't know for sure until meetings resume. However, our some of our older member give cash offerings, some in envelopes and some plate. The vast majority of our offerings are through the Church
Giving Scheme which is tax efficient and automatic. In our online services we have invited people to think about giving, so this might be to match those who give cash offerings on the plate.

Our cash offerings are max £200 per week. It's not huge but also significant. We don't know how many of our church family are furloughed, and those who have their own businesses have no income at all. I am under no illusion that we will be unaffected financially.

 

[Naomi4Christ]

virtual coffee gatherings,

We have loved our worship services/agape meals, prayer meetings and home groups. What I was discussing with my husband was the loss of coffee time. We have morning prayer on YouTube and when it's over, it's over.

What would be great is if we could all go over to Zoom and have a virtual coffee morning. If the host would pay the premium fees, we could have different 'rooms', where we could chat with a few people at one time. Randomised, this could make us engage with church family that we did not previously know.

I can only see possibilities! God is Good.

 

[Paidiske]

Certainly those engaging with my online services - Fb and Youtube - is a much higher number, and a much more diverse group, than those who normally come through the church doors. Feedback has been largely positive.

We've done some social stuff and things like parish council meetings on Zoom; it's not perfect, but it's better than nothing. I don't use Zoom for worship because it is closed rather than open. (As in, you need an invitation to be able to join).

The largest grief in my parish seems to be the lack of the Eucharist, but that's not really something I can fix. I may have to do an online Eucharist (I would prefer just using morning prayer for that format) because my parishioners are so adamant that they really want to see and hear it.

 

[Naomi4Christ]

We do an agape meal in place of the Lord's Supper. I think it works for us, but I can't speak for those who need to have the bread and wine consecrated.

 

[Paidiske]

An agape meal is not the Eucharist. And that's what some people here are adamant they want.

Personally, I wouldn't want to watch a Eucharist on a screen, but if it's getting to the point where - as one person put it to me last week - they feel "it's like you're punishing us" by not doing it, then I might have to give them one to watch.

I do wonder how that sits with the Article which says that the sacrament was not meant to be "gazed upon," but rightly used, but might have to push that niggle aside given pastoral needs in a pandemic etc.

 

[Naomi4Christ]

In our agape meal, we have a very slimmed down eucharistic liturgy and then the screen goes blank while we do all our personal bread and wine. We definitely do not watch the vicar do his bit. We are given about five minutes to do our own bread and wine.

 

[Paidiske]

It does sound like they're blurring the boundaries a bit, though?

 

[Naomi4Christ]

It does sound like they're blurring the boundaries a bit, though?

Perhaps, but most our church family are not legalistic. What matters to us is that whatever we do, we do together.

 

[Paidiske]

There's a very big gap between being clear about our sacramental theology and practice, and legalism, though.

 

[Naomi4Christ]

There's a very big gap between being clear about our sacramental theology and practice, and legalism, though.

Not all of us are super sacramentalists, but all of us have to practise social isolation. We rise to the occasion.

When I was growing up, we celebrated the Lord's Supper twice a year. I think, as Anglicans, we can pace ourselves.

As our Queen said, we will be together again.