First Sunday Back: Some Questions to Ponder
A Special Edition of The Clergy Connexion April 23, 2020
This magazine was published by The Office of Clergy Services Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church POB 850 Alcoa, TN 37701 Rev. Terry Goodman, Publisher Director of Clergy Services If you have questions, please contact him at (865) 690-4147 terrygoodman@holston.org Please feel free to use this resource as you deem fit. All photos are in the public domain and freely available at unsplash.com. All written material is the original work of Rev. Terry Goodman.
In this age of uncertainty, there seems to be a lot more questions than there are answers. This magazine will not supply you with the answers that you might be seeking, but it might supply you with the questions that you need to be asking. This magazine is designed as a series of worksheets in two major categories: 1.) What should we do prior to our first Sunday back in worship? 2.) What lessons have we learned and how will we conduct ministry as we move forward? You are encouraged as individuals and as socially distanced groups to take these worksheets and answer the questions that you find there so that you can begin thinking about what your church’s ministry is going to be in the post pandemic days that are ahead of us.
The Time to Prepare Is Now No one knows when it will be time for local churches to once again gather in their buildings for corporate worship. However, in this time of waiting, we could also be engaged in active planning for that day. One thing that Holston Conference faces is the vast geographic distances and multiple state laws and regulations. It is the premise of this portion of this magazine that even if Bishop Taylor gives the go ahead to resume worship, that does not mean that every church should resume worship services. Each church needs to carefully examine its own unique set of circumstances. Federal, state, and local guidance should be considered in making the determination to once again resume worship. Likewise local health authorities in each county and community should be consulted as to whether it is the correct time to resume services. With my soapbox speech out of the way, I now offer some thoughts that might guide churches in this intervening time of waiting. Personally, I see the day that churches can finally worship in their facilities as going either one of two ways. People may be so out of the habit that we will have underwhelming response to the opportunity to once again gather. We might also face severely limiting guidelines. For instance, what if we can, at first only gather with crowds of 10? Which 10 people get to come? It is not much better with crowds of 25. Then again people may be so fired up at the opportunity that we will see record crowds. (if it is permitted.) It is my prayer that the latter viewpoint will prevail. I believe that our churches could be on the verge of a new great awakening and the way that they respond on that first Sunday back will set the tone for many more months of ministry.
In the section that follows, are a series of worksheets designed to help you start thinking about that first Sunday back. There are a lot of questions you need to ponder. These worksheets are not designed to give you answers. Instead, they are designed to make you think and come up with your own answers to questions you may not have considered. I recommend that these questions be pondered in a socially distanced group setting and/or by individuals who would share their results with other individuals that are also pondering these same questions.
Preparing for the First Sunday Back —
WORSHIP The answers to the following, and other, questions need to be determined now. Don’t wait until the day has dawned and try and throw something together. The way that these questions are answered will be different for each church. What will happen on that first Sunday back? Will there be baptisms? Will there be Holy Communion? Will there be a time of witnessing? Will there be special music? Will the pastor have a special message? Will there be celebration? Will there be a pot luck meal? Will Sunday School also start back up at the same time? A big issue will revolve around state limits on meeting size. As the roll out begins, you might be facing limits of 10, 25, or 50 people allowed to gather. How will your church cope with the fact that you might have 40 that want to come, but only 10 would be allowed? Think through this issue before it happens and have a plan in place. Take a moment, to write down some questions that come to your mind as you think about this topic.
Preparing for the First Sunday Back —
WORSHIP SPACE CONSIDERATIONS When the OK is given, have you considered what your worship space will look like? The room will be the same, but you will need to configure it in a different manner. Will you close off every other pew?
Will you put markers on the pew indicating 6 foot distances? How will you accommodate couple and families? Can they sit together or do they need to distance as well? Will everyone get up and leave at once when the service ends or will you dismiss by rows? Are the clear instructions posted in the worship space about the need for social distancing? Are there hand sanitizers available in the worship space? Are there masks available for people that might come without a mask? Will the choir sit in the choir loft? Will the choir wear masks?
Preparing for the First Sunday Back —
GREETING RITUALS How will we greet people? Will we hug and shake hands? Will there be hand sanitizer available at numerous locations in the church? Do we expand our greeting by meeting folks in the parking lot? There might be guests that day. Some of which have never been to your church. How will you greet these people to make their first time at you church less awkward. Does you church serve coffee and have donuts? Will it continue that ritual?
Preparing for the First Sunday Back —
FINANCES I suggest, that you might be prepared for a less than full offering plate, simply because patterns of giving have shifted and people may be giving in different ways.
Likewise there will still, most likely, be persons that have been affected by furlough and or loss of job. They may not be able to give as they once did.
What Other Financial Questions Might You Have?
Whatever you do, celebrate the fact that God has blessed your church and your community and your members and that their gifts will continue to help the church make a difference in its community. Are you hoping to receive a bountiful offering? Have you been engaged with financial/ stewardship emphases during this time of isolation? Will you continue to encourage those that have started giving online to continue to do that or will you suggest that now they can start giving via the offering plate? Will you make a formal report of the church’s finances available on that day? Will it be written or verbal? Will you continue to pass the offering plate or will you have giving baskets/stations into which people may drop their offering? Will money counters have hand sanitizer available to them?
Preparing for the First Sunday Back —
FOLLOW UP If the scenario of people flocking to church holds true, then the church needs a plan to gather contact information on each and every person that is in the building on that first Sunday (wouldn’t hurt to do so on the follow up Sundays as well) back together for worship. Does your church have pew pads? •
If so make sure they are filled and pencils are in them.
Do you use bulletin inserts? •
Might be time to ask everyone to fill out an insert so that you can verify that the church has correct contact information.
What information do you need to get? •
At the very least get a name, address, email, contact phone.
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You might also want to give them a chance to indicate: Member, First Time Visitor, Returning visitor, regular attender.
You need to have in place a system that will allow you to contact each person that was not regularly attending before the pandemic shut down the church. Those persons need to be contacted by Monday noon by someone from the church.
Preparing for the First Sunday Back —
MINISTRIES REPORT While in isolation, hopefully, the church has still had the opportunity to be in ministry. I strongly suggest that on that first Sunday back that you provide a written report to the congregation outlining the things that the church was able to do during the isolation. Did you feed people? Did you assist people with utilities? Did you regularly call and check on the shut-ins? Did you engage in other ministries? CELEBRATE what God was able to do through the ministries of the church during this pandemic. If you are brave enough, you might even allow a time for personal witness during the worship service.
What Other Ministries Were Conducted on Behalf of the Church During the Pandemic?
Preparing for the First Sunday Back —
LOSSES AND CELEBRATIONS During the service, you might need to mention the losses that occurred, especially since there is the chance that funerals could not be held.
Who died? Mention them. Pray for the families. On the other side, what are the celebrations? Were children or grandchildren born? What about anniversaries? What about birthdays?
Can you think of other things to celebrate unique to your church or community?
Preparing for the First Sunday Back —
Important Meetings In the time of isolation, meetings and decisions most likely were made. Perhaps via skype or zoom or some other method. Is there something, though, that needs to be taken care of? Does the Council, Board of Trustees, Finance Team, SPPRC, Mission team etc. need to have a meeting now that it can be done face to face? If so, schedule them, but don’t burn everyone out with non-stop meetings the first Sunday back. Ask these questions: What team needs to meet? Why does that team need to meet? How long will the meeting last?
Preparing for the First Sunday Back —
Expectations Think about the expectations that people are bringing back with them.
What Specifically are YOUR Expectations of that First Sunday Back?
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Will everyone be able to attend the first Sunday back, or will gathering limits restrict the number of persons allowed in the sanctuary? If so, how will you decide who gets in and who does not get into worship?
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Some may be glad simply to see their friends.
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Others may really need to hear the choir.
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Some need to get out of their homes.
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In the minds of many people may be painted a picture of a gathering just short of the marriage feast of the Lamb in its joy and expectancy.
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Remember, you cannot make everyone happy. You will not be able to meet all the needs and expectations of this time together.
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Even on a day of great joy, there might be some grumbling. So prepare for that as well.
Looking Ahead Some are predicting that until we get a vaccine that his may become a seasonal/annual virus. That means that we may go through this same sort of thing next year. Now is the time to start planning for that contingency as well. Don’t wait until another COVID 19 type of pandemic comes along. Start planning for how your church can continue to be church in the midst of an emergency. Having served in South West Virginia, there were a few times when snow shut things down for at least two Sundays. I vaguely remember one time that we might even have been shut down for three Sundays. There is also the possibility of flood, fire, tornado and other disasters. Is your church prepared to cope in the event that it is affected by such calamities? If nothing else, this pandemic should have opened our eyes to the fact that we must not wait until something happens and then respond. Instead we should be actively looking at the scenarios that might befall our communities and making plans to be the church even in the midst of such trying time. In closing, are there other things that come to your mind? What is unique about your church setting and situation? Think about these things and anticipate how you will respond once things get back to normal.
Clarifying Your Church’s Ministries
They say that we learn from our mistakes. Hopefully, not too many mistakes were made during this pandemic. I like to think that we also learn from our experiences. In the next section, there are some “Clarifying” questions to help you think about Pre, mid, and post pandemic ministries. You need to be able to first of all see where you were. What were you pre-pandemic strengths. You then need to think about what happened during the pandemic. What were your strengths and weaknesses. Finally, you should consider post pandemic what you used to do vs what you have been doing and decide whether or not some of those actions will carry forward or if they were just for the situation at hand.
Clarifying Your Church’s Ministry —
Pre-Pandemic More than likely, most churches will think that their ministries Pre-Pandemic were healthy and maybe even vibrant. Please take a few moments to think about what things were like in your church prior to the pandemic. In the space below, and perhaps on a separate sheet of paper, describe in detail 3 to 5 of your church’s pre-pandemic most successful/vibrant ministries.
Clarifying Your Church’s Ministry —
Mid-Pandemic As the pandemic began to roll in full force around us, things began to change drastically for most churches. Chief among those changes was the inability to conduct Sunday morning worship in the sanctuary.
Describe in the space below what that felt like for you and the members of the church.
In addition to loss of worship, what were the things your church did that you missed the most during the pandemic?
Clarifying Your Church’s Ministry —
Mid-Pandemic Think back to the pre-pandemic ministries of your church. (see previous exercise) How has the pandemic changed each of those ministries? Be specific in your answers. Were all the changes negative or could some of them be considered positive? Which ministries continued during the pandemic? How did you have to change in order to continue these ministries? Which ministries did you have to give up? Why did you have to give them up?
Clarifying Your Church’s Ministry —
Post-Pandemic At some point, the pandemic will be behind us and we will have the opportunity to move into a different kind of future. When the pandemic is over how will your church and its ministries be changed?
When the pandemic is over how will you have changed? When the pandemic is over, how will the attitude of the church members have changed? When the pandemic is over, how will the community’s opinion of the church and her ministries have changed?
Use this page for Notes and Responses to Questions
Use this page for Notes and Responses to Questions
Use this page for Notes and Responses to Questions
Use this page for Notes and Responses to Questions
