Staying Connected

Mark Johnson | March 22, 2020

It's week two of our National Healthcare Emergency.  And we are up to our necks with online devotionals, worship services, Zoom and Skype meetings, extra text messages and emails, and a host of special presentations to bring us together.  It can feel overwhelming, draining and a little too much.

But in this time of imposed, purposeful and helpful distancing, I wondered how much more difficult our isolation would be without these "modern" tools of communication.  When I was a child, we only had the evening paper, the evening news and a shared telephone for the whole family wired to a wall in your kitchen.  Such is the nature of the pace of change in my lifetime.  How hard would this quarantine be without all our gadgets?

As we move through this week, we hope to improve and strengthen our communication pathways.  We are putting together an invitation-only and closed Facebook group for the church.  I hope it will be a place we can post our prayer concerns and updates, link resources and activities we are finding helpful to share and provide a way for the whole church to shoulder the burden of keeping one another informed and up-to-date.  It will require a Facebook account, but after discussing several alternatives, this still seems to be the most effective means of accomplishing this purpose.

I also hope you've had a chance to subscribe to our YouTube channel and/or watch the worship services from the past two weeks and the extra credit presentation about providing support for our church and childcare staff during the next two months (it officially begins at the 2:45 minute mark).  Facebook, YouTube (and the Google account you need to subscribe to it) can legitimately be judged as behemoth industries causing more harm than good.  Or we can use them for the better, helpful and more worthwhile means of community building they can become.

Overall, we are seeking to balance our need to be together as a community of faith with not overwhelming you with too many interruptions.  As the body of Christ, we are sensitive to our diversity.  Some are being inundated with an uptick in electronic contacts from school and work, while others may wish for more.  It will take us a while to strike the right balance.

Please remember to help us by reaching out.  If you have any needs or are just feeling lonely--our staff, deacons, and all other caring members are here for you.  Keep watching your email from the church, join the Facebook group, call or text the church number at 859-278-2331.  Staying connected is our new form of being faithful.