Treasury Department Guidance on Apply for Paycheck Protection Program

The Department of Treasury is releasing more details on how to apply for the Paycheck Protection Program.  Most banks participating in the program should start accepting applications on Friday, April 3.  Here is the important information you need to apply.

• SBA Form 2483 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Application Form.

  • Note the box in the top left-hand corner to check for “Non-Profit”.

• PPP Information Sheet for Borrowers

  • This document explains the program and how to apply.

  • Note on page 2 that lenders will likely require documentation for your calculation of average monthly payroll.

  • This document clarifies the loan is due in 2 years (if not forgiven) at an interest rate of 0.5%.

• PPP Information Sheet for Lenders

  • If you are having challenges explaining this program to your local bank, share this information sheet with them.

  • If they are not participating, you will need to find a lender that is SBA-certified and is participating in the PPP.

I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND that all churches consider applying through the PPP.  This program is intended to help organizations, like churches, to continue to operate at full strength through this current trial. 

To summarize:

• The SBA provides a loan equal to 2.5 times your monthly payroll (explained in my post here).

• The loan will be forgiven entirely if you don’t make reductions in pay or staffing levels.

• Non-profits, including churches, qualify for the program.

• The application process begins on Friday, April 3.

Tommy Hill serves as the Director of Finance for Sovereign Grace Churches. He is also the Administrator for Cornerstone Church of Knoxville where he lives with his wife Elizabeth and their children.

Sovereign Grace Churches Day of Prayer for Healthcare Professionals

The Bible is sufficient for all of life, at all times, even in the midst of a global pandemic. God is good to tell us what to do in tribulation, like the COVID-19 pandemic we are all walking through together. God tells us in Romans 12 to “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer” (Rom. 12:12, ESV).

Being constant in prayer sounds like a good thing to do right now. Therefore, I’m asking the members and pastors of Sovereign Grace Churches to devote this Friday, April 3 to a Day of Prayer for Healthcare Professionals who are serving during the COVID-19 pandemic. These men and women are on the front lines, at the risk of their own health, to care for those who are sick. We, as a family of churches, thank God for them and the many sacrifices they are making. Here are a few ways you can join me in praying for the health care workers serving around the globe:

• Ask God to protect them from contracting the COVID-19 virus as they care for the sick.

• Ask God to strengthen them for the long hours they are working in hospitals and clinics.

• Ask God to comfort them when they need to spend time separated from family and friends.

• Ask God to provide the equipment, medicine, and supplies they need to care for those infected with the COVID-19 virus.

• Ask God to encourage them especially during difficult and challenging days.

• Ask God to use Christian health care workers to communicate the love of Christ to patients and co-workers looking for opportunities to share the hope of the gospel.

Mark Prater is the Executive Director of Sovereign Grace Churches and has served as an elder at Covenant Fellowship Church since 2002. 

Do the Work of an Evangelist

A person doesn't waste his last words on trivial matters – the weather, sports, or the latest hit movie.  A person uses his last words to communicate only the most essential things.  In  2 Timothy 4, we have the apostle Paul's last words to his beloved disciple Timothy.  The essence of these words is found in verse 2 – "preach the word."  But then, in verse 5, we see this further exhortation – "do the work of an evangelist."

This work is obviously an important one given that its part of Paul’s last words.  It’s also something that every pastor is being called upon to do.  But what does it mean?  What is the work of an evangelist?  How exactly does one do that work?

We get a clue in Ephesians 4:11-12, “he gave…evangelists…to equip the saints for the work of ministry.”  Rico Tice summarizes it this way: “Part of a pastors job is to help people proclaim Christ in whatever circumstances God has placed them.” Honest Evangelism, p. 47.

Let me suggest four things a pastor does to do the work of an evangelist:

1. He calls people to evangelism. 

   He repeats and explains Jesus's commissions to every Christian to do in passages like Matthew 28, Luke 24, and Acts 1.

   CHARLES SPURGEON – “It is the whole business of the whole church to preach the whole gospel to the whole world.” 

2. He equips people for evangelism.

   He teaches them what they need to know to be an effective witness, the elements of gospel witness. 

   PAUL LITTLE - "Many Christians are ineffective ambassadors because they're not sure of the content of their message and are unable to communicate it understandably to others."  How to Give Away Your Faith

3. He motivates people for evangelism.

   Most people find evangelism, particularly consistent evangelism, hard.  Without using guilt or manipulation, he helps people to gain a heart for evangelism.

   J.I. PACKER – “There are, I fact, two motives that should spur us constantly to evangelize.  The first is love to God and concern for his glory; the second is love to man and concern for his welfare.” Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, p. 73.

4. He deploys people in evangelism.

   He helps them to see the ways that they can witness.  He helps them to see and understand their particular mission field – the everyday places they live, work, and play.  And he sends.

   RICO TICE – “It’ no accident that you know the people you do.  It’s no accident that they’re in your path…we need to understand that God has put people around us because he wants them to hear the gospel.” Honest Evangelism, p. 50.

Obviously, some men are specifically called and gifted in evangelism.  But in 2 Timothy Paul calls all pastors to participate in this glorious work.  C.J. Mahaney said it this way – “Cultivating evangelism in the local church is one of a pastor’s most important responsibilities and difficult challenges.” (in Dever, The Gospel, and Personal Evangelism, p. 12).  So may each of us accept the responsibility and challenge and begin to faithfully “do the work of an evangelist” in our local church.  

Tears May Tarry for Now: Trusting God in Times to Weep

When I answered the phone that evening, I heard my daughter-in-law’s trembling voice: “I just found out that my sister may have only twenty-four hours left to live.”

She immediately caught a flight to California, hoping to be with her oldest sister one last time. The next morning, I received this text message: “I didn’t make it. She passed away.” Her sister’s passing came just five days after the anniversary of her mom’s death, six years earlier. Of course, there were tears. Many tears.

Whether you are enduring the loss of your loved one, facing your parents’ divorce, discovering your husband’s unfaithfulness, abiding your teenager’s hostility, learning about your friend’s betrayal, or experiencing a breakup with the man you thought you’d marry — painful and perplexing circumstances bring forth tears. Naturally, we all desperately wish we could avoid such heartbreak, and we would do anything to prevent this kind of anguish for those we love. But truth be told, we can’t. This is the painful reality of living in a fallen world.

Tears Are Facts of Life

Tears are a fact of life and an expression of the pain we experience. The little book of Ecclesiastes prepares us to interpret our tears. In his famous poem in the third chapter, the author identifies seasons and times marked out for us in this life by our sovereign God, including seasons of sadness: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: . . . a time to weep” (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4).

If, for you, it is “a time to weep,” your emotion is not a deficiency of faith: God has appointed your tears, and it is appropriate to cry. While it may seem like you will never be happy again, your crying won’t last forever. Weeping has its time — meaning, it has a beginning and an ending date. 

This is not to suggest you will one day be unmoved by what is causing your tears; certain painful experiences will remain with us always. But Ecclesiastes tells us that God also has appointed “a time to laugh” (Ecclesiastes 3:4). Or, as the psalmist puts it, “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning” (Psalm 30:5). Though it may be hard to believe right now, you will laugh again someday. 

Granted, in times of grief, it’s hard to see beyond our tears, hard to imagine past the time of pain to a time of mirth. But more is happening in seasons of sadness than we may realize.

What We Know (and Don’t)

In his infinite wisdom, our Heavenly Father is weaving the painful threads of our life into a grand design; he is making something beautiful from our tears: “He has made everything [even times to weep] beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Rarely, though, do we see the beauty God is creating. Our vision is filled with the devastation of our suffering and questions overflow with our tears. Why me, Lord? Why this? How can anything good come from so much pain?

It is part of our DNA to want to know and understand. We recognize that there is a bigger picture, a wider purpose for our suffering because “[God] has put eternity into man’s heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). We want to figure out what God is doing, but we are stopped short when we discover that God also has placed limitations upon our capacity to comprehend: “yet . . . [man] cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). This ability to perceive, and yet not perceive, is a work of God.

In other words, both our desire to make sense of our tears and our inability to make sense of them have been ordained by God. As J.I. Packer writes, God “has hidden from us almost everything that we should like to know about the providential purposes which he is working out . . . in our own lives.” When we accept that we know something, but cannot know all, we will stop striving to figure everything out. Our angst will subside and a sweet peace will pervade our souls. We can simply cry before our Lord and trust him to create something beautiful for his glory.

Bright Spots in Bleak Seasons

To help us endure times of grief, God provides us with gifts each day, and surprising gifts, at that! “Everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil — this is God’s gift to man” (Ecclesiastes 3:13). Ordinarily, we think of food and drink simply as nourishment for our bodies, but they are more than fuel for living. As John Calvin writes, “If we ponder to what end God created food, we shall find that he meant not only to provide for necessity but also for delight and good cheer.” 

During a weeping time for me (and for my whole family), a friend sent us chocolate croissants with Samuel Rutherford’s famous quotation written on the card (only slightly reworded): “When I am in the cellar of affliction, I look for the Lord’s choicest [croissants].” Not only were those the best croissants I have ever eaten, they also brought me cheer in the midst of a bleak season. 

At this same time, I was helping one of my daughters launch her small business; not something we would have started if we knew what was coming. But each day as we worked from morning until night — setting up a workspace, ordering supplies, framing artwork, fulfilling orders — we realized that God had provided this endeavor as a helpful distraction from our pain. The simple pleasures of food and drink and work really are wonderful gifts from God in times of weeping. 

Time to Weep — and Grow

When we turn to God in our tears, times of weeping also become our times of greatest growth. Ecclesiastes tells us that God uses our appointed season of sorrow to teach us to fear him: “God has done it, so that people fear before him” (Ecclesiastes 3:14).

While it might seem like we have stalled, or even digressed spiritually in the midst of our tears, the opposite is true. God is at work in our lives to bring about growth in godliness. He appoints “a time to weep” in order to reveal himself to us in deeper ways than we have ever known. He is sovereignly leading us through this valley of tears so that we might come to trust and treasure Jesus Christ above all.

So, to my daughter-in-law and to all who are weeping: look to Christ, your Savior, who walked this earth, wept over sinful, suffering humanity, and went to the cross in our place. No matter how long and hard this painful season, may you find comfort as you recall the truth of Ecclesiastes 3: God is creating beauty, providing you with gifts each day, and teaching you to fear him. 

And one day soon, “a time to weep” will be no more. For God himself “will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

Carolyn Mahaney is the wife of C.J. Mahaney and a homemaker who has written several books with her daughter, including True Feelings and True Beauty. They are presently writing a book on Ecclesiastes. Carolyn and her husband have four children and twelve grandchildren.

(This article was originally published on Desiring God on March 29, 2020.)

COVID-19 Financial Update #3: Paycheck Protection Program for Churches

As mentioned in my previous communication, the recently passed CARES Act includes a new loan program called the Payroll Protection Loan/Grant.  This program is a significant benefit available to small businesses, including churches and non-profits.  All U.S. Sovereign Grace Churches who have regular payroll should qualify.  There is much information available to digest online.  I will try to synthesize the most important items below.

Be sure you get this information into the hands of your administrator or financial advisory team as soon as possible so they can consider applying.

Why is this program being offered?

The Paycheck Protection Program is intended to provide relief to small businesses, including churches and non-profits, to help them retain staff during the coronavirus crisis.  The process is supposed to be simplified, with no personal loan guarantees and no recourse to any individuals if used for authorized purposes.

How much can I qualify for?

Most of our churches should qualify for an amount equal to 2.5 times your average monthly payroll costs, including salary and employer-paid retirement, healthcare, and state/local payroll taxes computed over the last 12 months.

Where do I apply for the loan?

Contact your current bank to see if they are an approved SBA Lender and are preparing to receive applications for this program.  If they are not, you will need to identify another bank/lender as soon as possible.  The bank will have the information on the program to help you begin the application process.

What are the terms of the loan?

If you spend the loan on payroll, mortgage interest, rent, and utilities over the next eight weeks, then the repayment is deferred for six months to a year with payoff over up to 10 years at an interest rate not to exceed 4%.

Can’t some of the loan be forgiven?

Yes, if you spend the funds per the above terms in eight weeks, the entire amount of the loan can be forgiven if you essentially keep your current staff employed for the period from March 1 to June 30 at their same pay amount.  The amount forgiven will be reduced proportionally for any staff reductions or cuts in pay.  So, to simplify, if you have four employees paid equally last year and only three on staff this year, you would be forgiven 75% of the loan.  The calculation is more complex, but this is meant to help you understand why it’s important for you to take action!

What can I do now? 

• If at all possible, try to delay any salary reductions or layoffs until you can receive this loan.  The purpose of the loan/grant is to help you retain your current employment levels.

• Find a local bank that is an approved SBA Lender and preparing to offer this program as soon as possible.

• Begin pulling together your compensation records from March 1, 2019, to February 29, 2020, where you have monthly totals for each employee for the following categories. This is the information you will need to compute the loan amount as well as the forgiveness amount going forward.  I find it’s better to start with more detail to make adjustments later.

  • Salary and other wages.

  • Housing allowance (still not clear if housing allowance qualifies though).

  • Employer-paid retirement

  • Employer-paid health insurance

  • Employer-paid state/local payroll taxes

  • FTE (full-time equivalents) for each employee per month.  A full-time employee is “1”.  A 20 hr. employee is “0.5”.

• The US Chamber of Commerce has a helpful document explaining the details.

Again, I strongly encourage you to find someone in your church to begin this process.  It appears to be a great provision of funding to maintain your staff during this season.

For more information on this and other economic benefits available to churches, I recommend ECFA and BMWL.

Tommy Hill serves as the Director of Finance for Sovereign Grace Churches. He is also the Administrator for Cornerstone Church of Knoxville where he lives with his wife Elizabeth and their children.

COVID-19 Financial Update #2: Unemployment Benefits

I have had several pastors ask me about whether church staff can qualify for unemployment compensation if they are laid off as a result of the economic impact of COVID-19.  Here are some key highlights (as brief as I can be!).  Be sure and pass this on to whoever helps your church with compensation and benefits.

Do church employees qualify for unemployment compensation normally?

No.  As a general rule, churches are exempt from purchasing unemployment insurance; and most don’t purchase it.  Thus, terminated employees don’t qualify for unemployment compensation.  For this reason, it is important to consider these two key factors:

1. When hiring staff, make sure they are aware that unemployment benefits are not available for church employees.  Also, make sure this is highlighted in your benefits policy manual.

2. Because there are no unemployment benefits available for terminated staff, try to be more generous with your severance policy than you might if you were a small business paying unemployment insurance.  There are other reasons to be generous with this policy beyond the scope of this review.

Are some States now offering new unemployment benefits available as a result of the COVID-19 crisis?

Yes.  I know of at least two states (Ohio and Tennessee) that are now providing some level of unemployment benefits for employees not eligible for regular unemployment benefits if their loss of employment is due to the current COVID-19 crisis.

• If you are faced with the difficult decision of having to let go of an employee, check your state for these potential new benefits.

• You may also have church members in this situation.  Make sure and ask them to pursue unemployment benefits if they have lost their jobs, including this new benefit in some states. 

What about Federal unemployment benefits?

The CARES Act includes federal funding to provide some level of unemployment benefits for church and non-profit employees who have lost their jobs.  I haven’t found any specifics on how this relief is provided yet.  I will update you when more information is available.

The key point at this moment is being prepared to serve your employees if you find yourself in the difficult position of needing to eliminate any staff.  Also, remember to consider the potential effect these decisions could have if you applied for the Paycheck Protection Program Loan/Grant.

For more detailed information on this and other economic benefits available to churches, I recommend ECFA and BMWL.

Tommy Hill serves as the Director of Finance for Sovereign Grace Churches. He is also the Administrator for Cornerstone Church of Knoxville where he lives with his wife Elizabeth and their children.

What is God Revealing Through the Pandemic? An Interview with Mark Prater

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Benjamin Kreps:

Hey everyone. Welcome to the Mark Prater podcast, where our aim is to connect our global family of churches with our Executive Director. Hey Mark, there's a rumor going around that for your protection, you've been quarantined underneath the Texas Roadhouse in Glen Mills. Is that where you're broadcasting from right now?

Mark Prater:

I kind of wish I was, but that's not true.

Benjamin Kreps:

You get those nice little cinnamon honey biscuits just taken right down into the basement, to the bunker.

Mark Prater:

Yeah, that'd be one of the reasons I'd love to be there.

Benjamin Kreps:

All right. Well, what we wanted to talk about was this: So God is always at work. He's our sovereign God, reigning over all things. Everything happens according to the counsel of his will. We only see a tiny bit (or understand a tiny bit) of what he's doing at any given time. But what are the kinds of things that you see God doing or revealing in Sovereign Grace Churches during this season?

Mark Prater: 

It's a great question. I've been thinking a lot about it and observing. And of course I don't know all that God is doing, as you just referenced. And I think there's more that we will learn in the weeks and months to come. But here's one of the things I'm seeing: As I watch our pastors respond to this pandemic, it reveals their true calling to shepherd God's people.

And what I mean by that is one of the difficulties our pastors experience is not being able to be with their people. And so that's not only frustrating, t pains them when they're used to sitting in an office counseling them or being with them on a Sunday or dropping into their small group, and none of that can occur. It's just difficult for our guys. And so that alone reveals that our pastors are just guys who love to shepherd the flock that God has entrusted to their care.

Benjamin Kreps: 

And you can see that expressing itself in a myriad of podcasts and devotional videos I see it popping up on my feed from Sovereign Grace guys constantly. You can just feel that guys are saying, we want to connect with our people. We want to serve them even from a distance. So that's wonderful. What else are you seeing?

Mark Prater:

That reveals another thing I'm seeing, which is a commitment by our pastors to our shared ecclesiology. So all those attempts that you just mentioned, whether to do livestream or if the church is choosing not to and doing devotionals for their families to do at home: All of those are expressions of our commitment to build a local church with our values. 

And I think what's being revealed in this time is how we've built for the last 30+ years. We've built with values where the local church is very central to our life and to what we do. And because of that, guys are wanting to continue to build that way in the midst of a pandemic. And I think the effect will be that once we can gather together again, no pastor should fear a member just saying, I'll just continue to livestream. I think they're going to want to be with God's people. And that's because of how we built over the years.

Benjamin Kreps:

It is wonderful in that we historically and presently enjoy a sense of needing to be with one another, practicing the "one anothers," connecting and fellowship, not just showing up on Sundays. So the live feed on Sunday, if that's what we're doing, or some other means, definitely can't replace any of that, just supplement some things. Anything else you're seeing?

Mark Prater: 

I'm seeing the way that pastors are responding to the pandemic in a way that reveals their commitment to our shared gospel mission in Sovereign Grace. Partnership really matters right now. And that's what you're seeing. So even the idea of: Okay, how do you pastor your church in a pandemic? There are guys sharing resources and ideas and ways of doing things together.

But there's also just an ongoing expression of care: pastors reaching out to other pastors, asking how they're doing, texting them, letting them know they're praying for them. I'm observing all of that and realizing God is going to use this pandemic to strengthen the partnerships we so much love in Sovereign Grace.

Benjamin Kreps:

That's beautiful. Is there anything that you have enjoyed or anything you'd recommend to think about when it comes to expressing the gospel mission during the season? (Things that you've seen that seemed to be effective or useful for us to think about?)

Mark Prater: 

In terms of gospel mission, in terms of advancing the gospel, is that what you mean? Probably one of the things (if you haven't yet done it) is to read Jim Donahue's blog post on the church development website. So how do you reach out when you're shut in? He has some really good ideas there, including just praying for unbelievers. 

I think what we've got to anticipate is God using this to draw unbelievers to himself. I saw a picture on Twitter just two days ago of a Barnes and Noble bookstore where the Bible shelves are sparsely filled. In other words, the grocery stores are not only empty, the Bible shelves are empty. And I think that picture says a lot about where people may be at. 

I think Sovereign Grace is poised as just one small denomination to participate in maybe even a revival. Maybe God would do that. Let's pray that way, right? 

Benjamin Kreps:

Amen. Ray, Ortlund Jr. had a post about the hopefulness of what God might be doing through this when it comes to revival that I saw on the Gospel Coalition website. I can't remember what it was called, but it's wonderfully faith-stirring to prepare for revival through all of this.

Mark Prater:

Yeah. Ray Ortlund just has faith in the midst of the pandemic.

Benjamin Kreps:

Such an optimistic fellow and friend. Well thank you Mark.

Mark Prater:

Hey listen, let me mention one other thing before we leave. If, guys haven't seen it yet, Jeff Purswell wrote a blog post yesterday. It's up on the Sovereign Grace central website. And it's up on the church development website. It's entitled, To Stream, or Not to Stream: Considering Sundays in Seclusion. 

It's a very thoughtful blog post that I want all of our guys to read and take advantage of.

Benjamin Kreps:

Great. And thanks for sharing that with us. Thank you for your time, Mark.

Mark Prater:

You're welcome, Ben.

Benjamin Kreps:

We'll talk to everyone else when we see you here next time. Stay safe.

Mark Prater is the Executive Director of Sovereign Grace Churches and has served as an elder at Covenant Fellowship Church since 2002. 

COVID-19 Financial Update #1: Families First Coronavirus Act and CARES Act

I just wanted to let you know that we are monitoring information that could affect churches, particularly relating to government-sponsored relief through the Families First Coronavirus Act and the CARES Act.  As we become aware of information to help you understand the impact on your church, we will let you know where helpful resources are available. 

Specific parts of the laws that could directly affect churches include (1) payroll tax credits for up to two weeks paid leave for employees related to COVID-19; (2) Paycheck Protection Program Loans/Grants; and (3) Expanded Unemployment Benefits.  Here  are a few places that I have found helpful to keep up-to-date currently for those who aren’t afraid to dive into the details (or send to your finance committee team to review):

• ECFA COVID 19 Resources

  • https://www.ecfa.org/Content/ECFA-COVID-19-RESOURCES

• BMWL CPAs COVID-19 Resources

  • https://www.nonprofitcpa.com/covid-19-updates/

• Also, here is an excellent review today by Mike Batts on the CARES act as it affects churches

  • Mike Batts Cares Act Summary

• Vanderbloemen Church Resources for Navigating COVID-19

  • https://www.vanderbloemen.com/covid19 

There will be a rush of articles and materials interpreting these things for all businesses and churches.  For now, I would recommend letting the experts spend more time interpreting these things and the government to provide us clear guidelines and instructions for how to best apply these new laws.

Tommy Hill serves as the Director of Finance for Sovereign Grace Churches. He is also the Administrator for Cornerstone Church of Knoxville where he lives with his wife Elizabeth and their children.

Zoom Counseling

We’re into the second week of the Great Hunkerdown of 2020.  Most pastors I know have spent the last week reworking their churches into some kind of new virtual reality.  But we all know that pastoral counseling needs are out there awaiting our attention.  And not just a corona-related crisis.  People had problems before we went into hibernation and those problems won’t go away.  In fact, social distancing will more likely exacerbate issues.  People lack familiar escape routes that have helped them cope with stress and difficulty.  Often the people who are the most tempting to us are the people we’ll be sheltering in place with.  And ongoing isolation rarely helps anybody.

So, pastors will be counseling during the corona crisis.  The question is, how do we do it?  To quote Jeff Purswell’s excellent post from a couple of days ago,

As those who will give an account for the ones entrusted to our care, we must think carefully about how we discharge our pastoral responsibilities—and, importantly, not just the content of our ministry, but our methods—and never more so than in a time of crisis.

Jeff is talking about the public ministry of the church in its corporate gatherings.  We need to be equally as thoughtful in our personal ministry of the word in pastoral counseling.  The following are some thoughts that may help you serve your folks well in the area of pastoral counseling during the corona lockdown.

Mode

So how should we do it?  Let’s start with this: email is the worst. Don’t use email conversation for any counseling on serious or complicated issues.  This deserves its own post, but let’s just keep it simple. Don’t use email to counsel.  If somebody emails you with a counseling issue, set up a time to talk.  Texting and other kinds of real-time social media communication are slightly less unhelpful because at least you can have a real-time conversation.  But in a time where we can’t reinforce our care through personal contact let’s be careful trusting our thumbs to communicate our hearts. 

So that leaves phone calls and video chats.  Most of us have done enough pastoral care over phones to know the strengths and weaknesses of that medium.  I think people most people will extend a particular grace this season talking about difficult things over the phone.  The biggest issue I have with phone counseling is that one of our most significant face to face assets - the value of silence to let the Spirit apply truth - gets really squirrelly on the phone.  When I’m on the phone I’m more prone to fill those silences with whatever pops into my head in the moment.  Not good.  Also, the absence of visible body language and facial expressions means we are entirely dependent on content delivery.  That’s dicey. So be wise with the phone.

The remainder of this post will focus on video counseling - FaceTime, Zoom, Skype, etc.  This medium is being used more and more in the counseling world.  The jury is still out on the quality of the experience.  My guess is that the more people live interactively on screens, the more comfortable they’ll be opening up their lives this way. Don’t assume that translates into good counseling, at least as we are called to do it as pastors.  But right now it is a tool, maybe even a gift, that we can use in soul care.

Method

So how do we handle video counseling?  First, recognize the attention span limits of video.  In his Zoom talk about caring for the church on March 19, Mickey made the excellent point that attention span drops significantly after about an hour on a video chat.  So you need to plan for a meeting where you can get caught up, have good dialogue, provide care and then close in a loving, patient and caring way - in about 60 minutes. That’s a tall order. To limit the time you need to limit the agenda.  I think if we talk about this upfront people will receive it as care. Let the folks you’re counseling know you’re going to try to keep things to an hour for their sake, so you might be more structured than normal. They’ll get it. 

Second - environment dictates tone. If you are meeting with someone on a park bench in a city you may need to communicate sensitive things in loud voice to be heard. If you are in a small coffee shop with people all around you it might be necessary to communicate hard things in a very soft tone.  The point?  We need to adjust delivery for environment.  With video chats, you have two environments to account for.  You may have a real good set of earbuds and a nice quiet space. The person you’re counseling may be in an echo chamber with loud family outside and bad speakers. Ask them how it sounds.  Don’t assume they are yelling because they’re angry.  They may just feel like that’s what is needed to be heard.  Because you’re in two different environments it takes work to establish the tone you want for the conversation.  

Third - visibility matters.  I was on a call with my small group leaders and two of the couples were totally in the dark - they were sitting in a room with terrible lighting.  That can be a challenge.  Make sure you’re clearly visible to the people you’re counseling in as natural a light as possible. If you’re wearing glasses because that’s what you usually do when you’re on the computer, remember that can make it difficult to see your eyes or make them look really large and angry.  We don’t want angry eyes.  You also want to see the other people clearly so you can get at least a little of the body language communication. 

Message

Whatever agenda you've been operating on, it now needs to be shaped by present need. If you’ve been challenging a dad about weaknesses in his family leadership and he just got laid off, let God have the long term issue and you tackle the immediate trial. My approach is to let God show me counseling paths through presenting problems and not assume my assessment of the issues is always God’s priority for care in a particular conversation. 

Second, keep people wanting more, not needing more. By this I mean try to make the conversation a worthwhile experience for the people you’re counseling - especially now.  We don’t have those opportunities to ‘touch base’ at meetings or services, so we need to prioritize keeping their interest in talking.  Did you ever have that moment where a counseling conversation was going really well and you thought, ‘now’s a good time to add this little correction in as we’re coming to the end’. Resist the temptation. Don’t open up something that has to be shut down, or requires an extended time to resolve. My goal if at all possible is to make what starts as counseling end more like fellowship - shared experience in the work of Christ in our lives. With tenuous access to people that is really important right now.  Here’s a great question to keep in the back of your mind as you’re talking - ‘what Gospel truth do I want to introduce, encourage with, or celebrate as we begin to close our time together?’. 

Third - Have scripture in hand.  If I’m going to be meeting with someone on a video chat I’ll ask God to give me a passage of scripture to read aloud at some point. Maybe at the beginning, maybe at the end.  I may even print it out and put it on the screen for both of us to read.  In video counseling, the actual words of the Bible (not just sound biblical principles) can be a visceral bridge across the chasm that separates people.  Isn’t that essentially how the New Testament epistles function?  

Fourth - elevate the role of prayer. Of course, we pray when we counsel.  But prayer distinctively breaks down the distance that the video medium creates. Praying together with your eyes closed puts people who may be miles apart in the same experiential space.  We speak to a God who is equally present and active where we are and they are in the same moment and in the same way.  This is mysterious, but it is not mystical. Prayer accents our fellowship as saints, our communion with the Spirit, our mutual need for grace, our family privileges with our heavenly Father, our glorious calling as followers of Christ.  If you don’t know what to say, pray.  If you do know what to say, pray. Let’s teach our folks the value of praying together in different locations.  

Finally - is there a time when only personal contact will do?  I’m sure in some of our churches things will happen over the next few months where we’ll need to venture out and meet face to face.  I’m not sure in those moments we are counseling in the way I’m talking about here.  At that point, we’re standing with people in crisis, in abject suffering, in unanticipated personal loss.  We will still need to be wise in how we enter personal spaces, in how we love in times of coronavirus.  But as good pastors have always taken risks for their people, we must accept the risk to ourselves that comes with being physically close, even as we do all we can to mitigate the risks to those around us.  That requires another post.   

Andy Farmer oversees the singles and counseling ministry at Covenant Fellowship Church in Glenn Mills, PA. He is also a regular contributor to the Biblical Counseling Coalition.

To Stream or Not to Stream: Considering Sundays in Seclusion

It’s become clear over the past couple of weeks that the COVID-19 pandemic would leave nothing in our lives untouched—including our Sunday gatherings. Since our pastoral team’s decision to live-stream a time of singing and teaching for our church, I’ve heard concerns about this practice from both friends and at least one well-known podcast. As those who will give an account for the ones entrusted to our care, we must think carefully about how we discharge our pastoral responsibilities—and, importantly, not just the content of our ministry, but our methods—and never more so than in a time of crisis.

The question of live-streaming in the church touches upon a number of important issues ranging from ecclesiology (the nature of the church and corporate worship) to anthropology (the nature of humanity, how we experience reality, the nature of relationships) to pastoral ministry (how we care for the people of God). In this post, I’ll more modestly seek to answer three questions that impinge upon a pastor’s decision to stream (or not to stream).  

Is it Worship?

This seemingly simple question actually unearths issues that strike at the very nature of the church. In a broad sense it surely is, just as under the new covenant “worship” language moves away from a special time or place to embrace all of a Christian’s life (Rom 12:1; Heb 13:15-16). If all of life is “worship” in this sense, then it’s a mistake to exclude our live-streams as a potentially God-glorifying response to his grace in Christ!

More to the point, is it corporate worship—that is, a reasonable approximation of the gathered worship of the local church?  Here we need quickly to say no, for a cluster of reasons. 

Beyond the broad sense of worship, the New Testament highlights the importance of the local church gathered for corporate worship. Profound and powerful things are happening in our Sunday gatherings that do not happen when we are apart, or when we are “virtually” together on-line. It is in our gatherings that we give concrete expression to the true nature of the church as a body (1 Cor 12:12ff.) and as a temple (1 Cor 3:16f.)—a dwelling place for God himself by the Spirit (Eph 2:22). Indeed, the church, as the ekklesia of God, the successor and fulfillment of the “assembly (qahal) of Israel,” by its very nature assembles before the Lord—and the entailments are breathtaking. Through his word and the work of his Spirit God presences himself in a unique way among his gathered people (cf. 1 Cor 14:24-25).[1] Christ himself ministers among us as each member, indwelt and gifted by the Spirit, serves and encourages and stirs up one another to love and good works (1 Cor 12:4-13). Through the preaching of God’s Word by an appointed shepherd who faithfully expounds Scripture, God himself speaks again, addressing his people, binding them together in community, and building them together as his dwelling place. 

Undergirding all of this are creational—and new creational—realities that imbue our gatherings with special significance: the “incarnational” dynamic of preaching whereby the preacher models and embodies the message in such a way that enhances its credibility and power (it’s astonishing that, in Rom 1:11, Paul apparently attributed to his personal ministry a unique role that even having the letter to the Romans didn’t seem to fill!); the embodied nature of our humanity and relationships that technology cannot approximate—not to mention the embodied nature of our union with Christ which binds us together and through which we encounter Christ in each other. The Christian has far more reason than the psalmist to exclaim, “I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD!”” (Psalm 122:1)

None of this is intended to minimize the potential blessings that can flow through our live streams. It should, though, give us a fresh appreciation for what happens when we gather—and to whet our appetites for the moment when we’re able to do so again.

So no, our live stream is not the same as our Sunday gathering, and when we live-stream songs and teaching from an empty auditorium, it is not our “Sunday worship” that comes through our people’s video monitors. But this is not the only question to consider.

Is It Fruitful?

This is more than a pragmatic question. Perhaps it’s better to frame it this way: “Can a live stream of singing and teaching accomplish certain pastoral priorities during this period of social upheaval?”

Our judgment as a pastoral team is that it indeed can—and our experience after two weeks of experimenting is that it has.

Every faithful pastor is seeking to care for his people in this unprecedented cultural moment. We have our own growing list of tactics to do so. But our live stream has had a number of particularly fruitful effects:

• It has enabled us to deliver pastoral care in a way that is consistent across the majority of our membership in a single moment;

• It has provided a platform by which to accomplish the biblical imperative of teaching God’s Word to our congregation—and in a way specifically applied to the current season of fear and uncertainty;

• It has enabled our pastoral team to maintain “contact” with our church as a whole as a supplement to the individual contact we’re seeking to maintain;  

• It has provided families a context to worship together, under the leadership of their pastors, in knowing solidarity with their friends. 

To be clear, I’m not suggesting that every church should be live-streaming on Sunday mornings. And there are certainly other ways to meet the needs of this moment in your church. Yet, when rightly conceived of and communicated, this tool has the potential to accomplish certain pastoral priorities, however imperfectly, in this unprecedented time of crisis. And I believe it can do so without doing damage to one’s ecclesiology, one’s perception of pastoral care, and one’s love for the local church. Which leads to a final question:

Is it Dangerous?

I’ve heard this concern raised in various forms by some very thoughtful friends. Here are a few of the most important ones:  

• Will this distort people’s doctrine of the church?

This is a fair question, and I suppose this would be possible in the absence of a number of factors. But when a church (or a family of churches) stresses the preeminence of the Sunday gathering in its life together, specifically as it shares the sacraments and sits under the right preaching of God’s Word; when vibrant relationships characterize a church’s fellowship and enhance its application of Scripture to its common life; when a church’s members are devoted to one another in love and committed to reaching their community with the gospel—I have little concern that a temporary live stream is going to distort a church’s understanding of its nature or diminish its members’ participation in its common life. 

In the presence of solid ecclesiological convictions such as these, my guess is that, in the vast majority of cases, if a person’s commitment to the Sunday gathering erodes following this unique season, live-streaming would simply reveal a heart issue already present, not create it.

• Are we setting a harmful precedent?

Again, a fair question, but I think it misses the fact that our current moment is unprecedented. There is no parallel in any of our lifetimes for the cultural upheaval we are experiencing. I’ve heard many comparisons with 9/11, but they miss a fundamental difference between that attack on our country and COVID-19 virus: in the wake of the Twin Towers attacks, our country pulled together—in concerts, rallies, and street parties. The coronavirus is pulling us apart—isolating us, erecting barriers, removing all contexts for community. We as pastors must do all we can—within the constraints placed upon us, applying wisdom, exercising love, and respecting civil authorities—to move toward our people, to know their condition, to keep watch over their souls, to facilitate interactions among them, and, above all, to provide what they need most of all—the Word of God, faithfully proclaimed and wisely applied to their lives at this moment of crisis. 

As for our eldership, we believe that this technology, in the present moment, helps facilitate at least part of this pastoral obligation when other Biblical means are simply not possible. Providing pastoral care is never more important than in a crisis, and people are especially attentive to their pastors in a crisis—making it critical that we do not miss this moment to come alongside our people as intentionally as possible. We’ve been stunned by the gratefulness our folks have expressed at our efforts to this end.

I would add that, for us, this is a temporary means which we plan to discontinue when the crisis passes. And if we perceive that it is having deleterious effects, or that the benefits do not justify the efforts, or if we conclude that there are better ways to accomplish similar priorities, we will happily cease this practice. We are in no way enamored by or wed to this particular mechanism.

It’s Not the Same, But . . .

For anyone concerned about negative effects from a live stream, I’d offer this, admittedly imperfect, analogy. When I am away from my wife on a trip, I gratefully have the option of talking to her on the phone. It’s not ideal. I’m not present with her. It doesn’t communicate the whole-soul-&-body union which is of the essence of the marital relationship. Yet, I’m grateful for the inferior, temporary, yet meaningful interaction my iPhone offers. Moreover—and here’s where the core of the analogy kicks in—it does not change the nature of my marriage. After a few weeks on the road, with two dozen+ phone calls under my belt, I’m not less eager to be with my wife. I’m not tempted to think, “You know, being physically present with Julie is really not all that important. FaceTime suffices quite nicely.” Nothing about our marriage has changed, not least my desire to be again with my wife. Yet, I’m grateful that FaceTime has allowed me to talk to Julie, to catch up on home-life, to learn of things needing my attention, to be warmed and encouraged by my dear wife’s expressions of love and concern. It’s no substitute for being home, but it’s a blessing when being together is impossible.

That’s how I view our live streams. It’s not a Sunday meeting. It does not afford all the divine blessings God purposes for the gatherings of his people. Nor is it sufficient for the life of any church. Yet, when rightly conceived of and communicated, it has the potential to accomplish certain pastoral priorities, however imperfectly, in this unprecedented time of crisis.

Considerations Thus Far

We’ve only been at this for two Sundays—and we pray this will not last much longer—but here are a few considerations we’re trying to factor into our live stream.  

The Word of God is central.  Live-streaming has obvious limitations, but it is a means by which we can fulfill our chief responsibility to our congregation of feeding them God’s Word—faithfully exposited, personally applied. And we’ve been greatly encouraged by the galvanizing effect of providing our folks a common diet from Scripture during this season. Although it may not have all the dynamics that live preaching in the presence of one’s congregation has, preaching in this form is still the proclamation of God’s Word, which is powerful to open eyes, strengthen hearts, and transform lives—and extend meaningful pastoral care during this time of pastoral isolation.

It’s not our “Sunday worship.”  For reasons both theological (see above) and practical, we’re not equating our live stream with our gathered worship. Even though they share certain elements, we want to honor the unique characteristics of each. 

Some considerations are practical: e.g., we’re not singing as many songs as we would on a Sunday (however, we’ve had some families request more music, as their children join in with instruments and dance!). We’re trying to be sensitive to the dynamics of on-line communication. As much as possible, we also want to engage those listening in—we try to address those at home and avoid the impression that they’re merely observers of a “service” that’s happening elsewhere. 

It can create a longing for our Sunday worship. Far from being a detriment to our Sunday gatherings, we’ve sought to seize these moments as a means of instructing our people about, and creating an appetite for, our Sunday gatherings once they resume.  For example, on this past Sunday our opening instruction (akin to a Call to Worship, although we did not use that precise language) consisted of the following:

“We begin our time this morning—as we do when we gather as a church—with God’s Word—this morning from Psalm 122:1: “I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD!”” The psalmist remembers that moment when it was time for him and his fellow pilgrims to journey to Jerusalem. He was filled with joy at the prospect of going to the holy city—the location of the temple—the symbol of the presence of God on earth, and all that implied: protection, refuge, blessing, joy.  Christians experience a similar joy at the prospect of gathering together. We’re not able to do that this morning. While we are grateful for this format and what it can accomplish, it’s not the same! It’s not what the NT envisions for the gathering of God’s people: where we experience God’s presence & grace together; where Christ Himself ministers to us through each member as they are indwelt and gifted by the Spirit; where we experience the personal, powerful effect of God’s Word as it addresses us & binds us together. And so, we can relate to the longing in the psalmist’s words, for the time when we are again together. Yet until that time we rejoice!  This moment whets our appetite, for that moment. And until that moment, this remains true:  Because of the cross, God’s presence is not relegated to a building: by the Spirit, He’s come to dwell with us. And because He has, we can live every moment—especially moments of unprecedented uncertainty and fear--strengthened in Him; protected by Him; relying upon Him; rejoicing in Him.”

It affords an unusual evangelistic opportunity. We’ve been surprised to hear from our members that unsaved family members and friends who haven’t accepted an invitation to visit have chosen to join the live stream. Although we’ve not given evangelistic messages, this has proven to be a unique opportunity to offer non-believers the only true source of comfort and hope in a world turned upside down. 

Our Only Confidence

I’ll say it one last time: I’m not suggesting that every church should be live-streaming on Sunday mornings!  A pastor may choose other means of caring for his people. This method might not be conducive to a particular church’s “culture.” This technology might be beyond the reach of a particular church. You may even conclude that live-streaming is either unacceptable or unwise. The point of this post is not to advocate for this mechanism, but to explore its biblical fidelity and potential fruitfulness as one means among many.

One thing is imperative. The current moment is forcing every pastor to prayerfully consider how best to “pay careful attention” to God’s flock and “to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood” (Acts 20:28). The inestimable price Jesus paid for his bride calls for our most prayerful dependence, careful thinking, and vigilant labors. Regardless of our response to the unique challenges we face, may our confidence never be in the methods we choose, but in Christ’s unshakable pledge: “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt 16:18).

[1] See David Peterson, “Worship in the New Testament,” in Worship: Adoration and Action, ed. D.A. Carson (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2002), 77.

Jeff Purswell is the Jeff is the Director of Theology and Training for Sovereign Grace Churches and the dean of the Sovereign Grace Pastor's College. He also serves as an elder at Sovereign Grace Church in Louisville, KY.