Sojourners,
It is hard to believe how quickly things are changing around us. One week ago at this time, I thought we would be having our normal gatherings as a church with some minor adjustments; but here we are a week later and our in person gatherings and groups have been cancelled for the remainder of the month.
It has been incredibly difficult to focus much of this week as I’ve been in many Zoom calls and invited to more than I’d ever have time to attend. My focus has been how to lead us to respond to our local community with wisdom, love, and faith as we serve our neighbors. If I’m not careful I easily find myself in moments of worry and anxiety like the rest of the world around us and maybe you have found yourself there too.
As a church planter and pastor I’ve been fighting internally all week to not see COVID-19 so much as a problem for us as a church, but to see it as more of an opportunity. No church should be defined by a single leader, building, or when they gather, which is why I believe God has given us a tremendous opportunity to respond to the community around us .
Practically for us as a church this looks a few ways:
Being a non-anxious presence in the lives of people around you.
Checking on neighbors (at a safe distance) to see how they are doing and offering to pick up groceries, meds, or offer any other assistance as needed.
Checking on people in your life through a text, phone call, or FaceTime.
Sharing needs and volunteer opportunities:
Embrace Oregon Access Code: “AlbertaVolunteers”
Although things are changing by the hour it seems, I agree with a friend of mine who said this is going to be really long. We all feel the need to fix things quickly but this isn’t as simple as a quick fix and we have time to try things and fail forward. Historically the church has been her best and thrived in times of crisis and that’s my hope and prayer for this season our world is facing.
Our short term strategy moving forward the next couple of weeks:
Online Gatherings: We will gather online together for prayer, worship in song, and teaching of the Word on Sunday’s at 10am.
Discipleship: We want you to continue to grow spiritually in this season of uncertainty and social distancing, which is why we are encouraging are Tables to meet via Zoom, Skype, or FaceTime. If you are not in a Table and would like to be let us know.
Prayer: We desire to seek God together in this season as we grow in our dependency on him.
Mission: This is not the time to shy away in fear. We will continue to love and serve the needs of our city together perhaps now more than even before. Check back frequently for opportunities for mission locally.
Finally, I’ve found comfort this week remembering, God’s ways are not our ways, and his thoughts are not our thoughts (Isa. 55:8). How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! (Rom. 11:33). We can rest confidently, the gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations (Matt. 24:14). The Christ who rules heaven and earth said, “I will build my church,” and I trust he is doing so even in the midst of this pandemic.
Matt Boyd, Pastor
