Pastoring Through Coronavirus

Pastors are men with a calling from God to serve His people as shepherds and overseers.  Peter's exhortation is to "shepherd the flock of God that is among you."  But how are we supposed to do that if we can't be among the flock that God has entrusted to us?  How can we shepherd in a "social distancing" era?  How can we call God's people to gather when the wisdom of the moment is to scatter and to isolate?

Those are the questions that pastors all over this country, across the globe, are asking themselves.  Those are the questions that SG pastors are asking.  From my brief survey of SG churches, they are questions that are being answered quite well. 

This short (ish – i.e., less than War and Peace) article is intended to help you to think through how you can best serve your local church at this unusual time.  And to do this understanding that SG is a diverse group of churches.  Our churches range in size from 20 to 1000+.  Some are rural, some are suburban, and some are urban.  Some have been high-tech for as long as they can remember.  Some are having to learn a whole new world of communication technology.  So there is no – one size fits all – model to follow.  

Given this, let’s cover three areas of shepherding care: Sunday morning, ongoing pastoral care, and giving and benevolence. And we'll also explore some ways diverse churches can pastor through coronavirus.

I.  Sunday Mornings

Before talking about some ways to do this right now, let's remember that, as Jay Kim said in his recent TGC post that going to virtual Sunday mornings is to be “a temporary compromise rather than an ongoing convenience.”  Our members must be taught that the church gathering in person on the Lord's day is and has always been God's plan for His people.  We can't predict how long there will be restrictions on gathering, but we must be clear that as soon as we can, we will be ceasing virtual meetings and returning to Sunday gatherings. 

But in the meantime, there are ways to "gather" God's people, not in place but in time, to experience worship together. (I don't think we can make this an iron-clad rule, but I would encourage people to participate at the designated time and not watch a recording later.)

Live streaming services seem like the most common method.  There are various ways to live stream, e.g., on Facebook, Youtube, and other platforms.  If you have no idea how to do this, I'd suggest you check with some tech-savvy person in your church or another church in your region that you think may be doing this well.  I’ve included a couple of tutorials at the end of this paper. (Just don’t bother checking with me because I have no clue!!!)

I'd encourage you to do the best you can, but don’t obsess about high-level production value – the most important thing is to be able to care for people.

I wouldn’t advise trying to do more than 1 hour.  Experts I have talked to say it can be hard to stay attentive to this kind of communication much longer.  Watching a live stream isn’t the same as being there on a Sunday.

It seems like a good idea to send out an order of service, song lyrics, etc. in advance to help people more easily follow along.

A typical schedule many of our churches are using is… 

•  Call to Worship

• 2 songs

• Pastoral prayer and announcements

• Offering – with options for giving

• Sermon (30 minutes or so)

• 1 song

• Benediction 

As far as preaching content, most guys have continued the series they were in (with maybe a one-off message to address the situation) thinking that continuity and at least some sense of normalcy were important.  Even with that, they have tried to be sensitive to the application to our particular time. 

Some are taking a break and do a topical series on issues related to the current crisis covering topics like – anxiety/fear, faith, loving neighbor, mortality/death, evangelism during a crisis, etc. 

Some are close to ending a current series and are considering not starting a new series until the church can regather.  Some of our churches have historically used the break between series to do a few messages from the Psalms or to do a short topical series.

Some churches have decided not to try to do a full (albeit shortened) Sunday service.  These would include not singing, or only showing a sermon.  Some have pre-recorded the sermon on either video or audio and made those available for people to listen or watch.

One church told me they were doing a 2-3 minute message addressed to kids as a way to help them be included in the service.

Another thing that has come up is communion, and whether we should do that "virtually."  I wouldn't for a couple of reasons:  First, Jesus said "as often as you do this" meaning there is no mandate to celebrate at any regular interval. Second, and more importantly, theologically the Lord's Supper is intended to be celebrated by the gathered church and being scattered as we are the thing represented is diminished.  But I would certainly create anticipation for when we can regather and plan to celebrate the Lord’s Supper as a part of your first meeting back.

The point is that there is no right or wrong here.  Your team must decide how to best serve for the moment.

One more thing  - several guys have told me that unbelieving family and friends have been tuning in to their live streams.  So encourage your members to invite and think about how you might conduct your service with that in mind. 

II.  Pastoral Care

Before dropping into particulars, I'd encourage two things in general: Lots of communication – people need to know what’s going on and why.  When people are isolated like we are, hearing from their pastors, small group leaders and friends keep them/us both encouraged and united. That might involve lots of prayer, sending out weekly prayer points, holding on line prayer meetings, etc.  These unite your church as they cry out to God for His mercy and grace. 

The wisest course seems to be to shrink everyone's lives for the time being.  I think the less contact, the better, especially since people are contagious before any symptoms show up.  So most of the guys I have talked to have canceled small groups, Bible studies, prayer meetings, etc.  But like Sunday mornings, there are viable ways to keep groups connected. 

The number one way churches have been doing this is through Zoom Meetings.  If you aren’t familiar with Zoom, it's a video conferencing platform using a computer, pad or phone. The blessing of Zoom is to be able to hold smaller group gatherings where you can both see and hear and thus interact with each other.  At the end of this document, I've included information on how to set up a Zoom account.  There is also a link to a similar Skype service.

For most of our churches, you will probably need more than one account so several people can do zoom meetings at the same time.  Zoom is free for meetings of up to 100 people for 40 minutes.  Zoom pro costs $15 a month and is an excellent choice for you as elders.

Almost all the guys I talked to are using Zoom or some other platform (face time, free conference calls, Skype, private Facebook pages) to help people, especially their small groups, to stay in touch.  It’s a great way for groups to keep up with each other’s lives, to discuss the Sunday message or other content, and to pray for each other.  Pastors would be wise to regularly communicate with their small group leaders as well.

Although it's pretty tricky to have two-way communication with a large number of people (maybe 20+), Zoom can be useful for getting the entire congregation together for family meeting type communication.  And of course, there is good old email, text, website, and church connect applications. 

We could also encourage pastors and small group leaders to stay in touch with members through phone and face time.  Most guys I’ve talked to are trying to continue counseling appointments using the phone in this way.

In addition to these types of communication, many churches are providing other teaching contexts for their folks.  These could be anything from daily written devotionals to weekly 5-7 minute video devotionals for people.  Smartphones make it easy for anyone to record and distribute these types of communications.

III.  Giving and Benevolence

1.  Giving

It may seem crass, but you have to pay the bills.  So I think you must hit this issue head-on by finding ways to remind people about the importance of giving.

If you don’t already have something, create ways people can give online (e.g., bill pay with their bank, giving by credit card or text to tithe) or provide a place where people can drop off checks. Mark Donovan has kindly offered to help your church if you need it (see below).

2.  Benevolence

There is almost certainly going to be needed for benevolence both within your church and in your community. 

Some already have a benevolence fund and are encouraging people to give to that fund at this time.  A couple of things to think about… 

Galatians 6:10 “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”

Unless you have unlimited funds, you are going to have to make decisions on how and where to give benevolence.  While we certainly want to help in our communities, I think the Bible calls us to help our members first.  Given the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, some of your members are probably going to lose jobs or at least have hours cut back.  I think before we start making decisions regarding giving to the community, we need to determine a strategy for serving our members.  Small groups and families can certainly help in this regard.

I’d also encourage Regional Leaders to coordinate help within the region if necessary.  Some regional churches may be overwhelmed with a need, while others may not. 

Have a correlated strategy on how to help in the community.  I anticipate that there will be a multitude of needs, so decide where you can best help in your community.

In addition to monetary help, see if there are ways you can serve your community/neighbors in other ways.  You will particularly have elderly and infirm folks who will need practical help.  E.g.

Center Church in Phoenix created a flyer to deliver door to door offering various kinds of help to neighbors.

Brothers, this is just another of many moments when I'm so grateful that we are in this together.  Thanks so much for being shepherds "after God's own heart" that don't let any circumstance keep you from performing that holy task and performing it with such faithfulness, grace, and love!!!

Mickey

On behalf of the LT

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SOME PRACTICALS

Zoom

Go to https://zoom.us/pricing

1. There is a free Basic version that can host up to 100 participants. 1 to 1 meetings are free without a time limit.

2. But, for meetings with more than 2 participants, the time limit is 40 minutes.

3. The Pro version for $14.99 per month has all the basic features and no time limit
   Click the orange Buy Now button

Skype – offers a free video chat for groups of up to 50 people. 

https://www.skype.com/en/features/group-video-chat/

These are tutorials on live streaming that I was told were helpful. 

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/livestream-church-service-practical-guide/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwKzPMSP_Dw

 Mark Donovan has kindly offered churches to set up online giving.  He wrote…

I agree with Tommy that Planning Center Online is a great choice. The Text2Give option that SG Central recently added does integrate with Planning Center Online, as well as ACS, Church Community Builder, Fellowship One, Give. Plus, Seraphim and TouchPoint. It is quick and easy to set up but does cost $25 per month plus 1%, which is in addition to any ACH or credit card fees.