Prayers of gratitude and intercession

  • When stay-at-home guidelines are eased and church doors and sanctuaries reopen, worship and church ministries will, undoubtedly, look different than before the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak. And so it should – so that we continue to keep ourselves and our faith communities safe and healthy.

    But that means pastors and church leaders should prepare for what the “next normal” will be for the congregation and its ministry. The following are some things to consider before inviting congregants back into the (physical) pews.

    1. Even if stay-at-home mandates are eased, should you immediately go back to in-person worship and activities?

    While coronavirus cases might level off or fall in some places, it has not completely disappeared. Will it be safe to invite older individuals and/or those with increased risk to be in an enclosed space with others who might be asymptomatic? Perhaps delaying your first in-person worship service – and/or a slow rollout of activities and programs – would be best.

    Consider starting first with Sunday worship, and wait to offer Sunday School and other programs onsite.

    Or, find creative ways to space out seating in your sanctuary – or hold worship outdoors during the warmer summer months.

    2. What if church gatherings are initially limited to no more than 50 people?

    If physical gatherings are limited in size, you might consider offering more (and/or shorter) services or continuing supplemental online services. Start thinking about how to work around potential attendance limitations.

    3. How will you handle children’s activities?

    It’s hard for most kids to understand why they need to keep a certain amount of distance between them and their friends. Should you delay or cancel children’s activities, like vacation Bible school, children’s church, and/or children’s time? Or are there alternatives you could implement to reduce the spread of viruses and germs, but still engage your church’s children and youth?

    4. How will you “pass the plate”?

    Collecting tithes and offerings in a physical plate might no longer be feasible. Consider collecting the offering via hands-free receptacles, or offer an online giving option (if you don’t already). Church members might also send their tithes and offerings through their bank’s electronic bill pay options or a donor advised fund.

    5. What modifications should you make to religious rites and ceremonies?

    Might your congregation adjust how it handles baptisms, anointing, footwashing and communion – both for the short- and long-term?

    6. How will you ask church members to think differently about their Sunday morning norms?

    With the risk of additional coronavirus surges, what used to be common practices may no longer be appropriate.

    Perhaps your church members should greet each other verbally rather than shaking hands.

    What are some of the social norms that worship participants may not think of that could pose a health danger to others?

    7. What will you do about fellowship time and potlucks?

    Many churches offer a brief time for people to gather, have coffee/tea and talk between worship and Sunday School. But, given COVID-19, it may be in everyone’s best interest to shorten – or even eliminate – this fellowship time to reduce the risk of spreading the virus to one another.

    Likewise, the familiar act of sharing a meal or potluck as a community also could put some people’s health at risk. How might your church find safe alternatives for breaking bread together?

    8. Should church business meetings be handled differently?

    Whether it’s out of precaution or because of busy schedules, maybe church business meetings, committee meetings, etc. could (or should) continue by phone or video. Who knows, perhaps others might want to volunteer for leadership roles if changes are made to make meetings more flexible!

    9. How will you manage non-Sunday activities and programs?

    From Bible study gatherings, to mid-week activities, to inviting external groups to use your church space – how will you manage everything that happens in your church building during the rest of the week? Creatively plan for these decisions.

    10. What extra steps can you take to care for your church family?

    Now is the time to sanitize and sterilize the entire church building – and keep doing it until and after you physically reopen the church.

    And, if you haven’t already, think about placing hand sanitizer in common areas, spreading out worship and Christian education seating, and/or offering non-medical face masks to attenders.

    11. Should you invest in or upgrade your digital equipment?

    Online worship has gained in popularity over the years – and even more so due to the COVID-19 stay-at-home guidelines. If your church plans to continue some form of online worship or programs, and your church budget allows for it, it might make sense to invest in equipment to help the church be more efficient and proficient in this area.

    12. Do you need to adjust your church policies and/or structure?

    The “next normal” for our faith communities should include updated congregational plans related to church finances, crisis communication, and maybe also health and hygiene policies.

    And, if you plan to continue offering online programs, you might think about whether or not you need volunteer or staff leadership positions focused on your church’s digital ministries.

     

    Any decisions you and your congregation make may very well look different from what other churches decide, given your specific context and congregational needs. Your denominational leadership may have further guidance and suggestions; also check with the World Health Organization and national, regional and local governments.

    By intentionally considering, praying and planning for your congregation’s “next normal,” your faith community will be better prepared when the stay-at-home guidelines are eased – and your church members will appreciate your care of their physical, financial and spiritual health and well-being.

    —A Mennonite World Conference release by Madalyn Metzger, vice president of marketing, Everence. This article first appeared on the Everence blog, then on The Mennonite Inc.

    12 Considerations Before You Reopen The Church Doors

  • Instead of being a great leveller, the COVID-19 pandemic is exposing pre-existing systemic inequalities that benefit some and disadvantage others. How can the Anabaptist family respond?

    Mennonite World Conference has invited Anabaptist mission and service agencies to coordinate their financial response to COVID-19 hardships experienced especially by under-resourced member churches around the world.

    Pre-conditions in parts of Africa, Latin America, and Asia (where 81 percent of MWC members live) are not advantageous to the arrival of the virus: isolation is difficult in crowded living conditions; clean water for hand-washing may be scarce while soap and hand sanitizer are expensive or unavailable; hospitals are not well equipped with tools or staff; informal economies cannot function in lockdown; social safety nets are inadequate or nonexistent.

    Linked to one another

    “When crisis strikes, some of our members are not as well resourced to access agency aid resources,” says MWC general secretary César García. “We are called to be a communion of Anabaptist-related churches linked to one another in a worldwide community of faith for fellowship, worship, service and witness.

    “By coordinating with Anabaptist agencies, we are fulfilling our mission and ensuring that help is available to all without duplication of efforts.”

    Mennonite World Conference worked with MCC to organize similar inter-agency responses to the ongoing crisis in Kasai, DR Congo, and to severe flooding that affected MWC member churches in Peru.

    Global Church Sharing Fund

    The MWC Global Church Sharing Fund will receive donations. A task force representing more than 10 global Anabaptist agencies will determine criteria of accountability and coordinate responses to requests. Mennonite Central Committee will lead the task force including leadership from the Deacons Commission and delegates from around the world.

    This interagency response will maximize the strength of diverse organizations, build on existing networks of primary relationships and mitigate competition for scarce funds.

    Requests for assistance funds will come from MWC member churches, associate members, or related organizations. Under oversight from the task force, they will be channelled to an appropriate member agency. 

    “Crises are not new,” says César García. “In the Bible, we learn from Joseph to plan ahead (Genesis 41); from the year of Jubilee that re-organization of oppressive systems is part of faithful living (Leviticus 25:10); from the Jerusalem church that we can risk generosity for the sake of others in need (1 Corinthians 16:1-4); and from 1 Peter 4:7-10 that we should practice hospitality and use our gifts in service of others.”

    Please write “COVID-19” on your gift at mwc-cmm.org/donate. Another option is to continue to support your preferred Anabaptist agency in its own COVID-19 response.

    Donate now

    Participating agencies

    —Mennonite World Conference release

  • Like the chambers of a heart, the four MWC commissions serve the global community of Anabaptist-related churches, in the areas of deacons, faith and life, peace, mission. Commissions prepare materials for consideration by the General Council, give guidance and propose resources to member churches, and facilitate MWC-related networks or fellowships working together on matters of common interest and focus. In the following, one of the commissions shares a message from their ministry focus.

    Right now, the planet is in a panic about a strange disease: COVID-19. The World Health Organization (WHO) has concluded from its evaluation of COVID-19 that it should be classified as a pandemic. This illness is infecting and killing people regardless of ethnic, linguistic or socio-economic background

    Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, has stated that COVID-19 is costing us dearly, but in addition, the WHO is extremely concerned about the consequences of the pandemic on other health services and what that means, especially for children.

    According to Alicia Bárcena, executive secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the COVID-19 pandemic will go down in history as one of the worst that the world has experienced. Bárcena explained that this disease puts an essential global public service (human health) at risk and will impact an already weak global economy.

    Hopelessness and helplessness

    Scientists are working day and night to find an encouraging solution for humanity, but the complexity of the disease is hampering efforts and there is still no good news on this front.

    This disease has sent us into obligatory social isolation in our houses as decreed by governments.

    In a number of countries, clinics have collapsed under the weight of infected patients because their numbers exceed the capacity. Healthcare professionals are becoming infected and many die; in some cases because they do not have access to essential protective gear.

    In some countries, there is insufficient space in cemeteries to bury the dead so they are being buried in mass graves or in their back yards, while some are even left by the wayside.

    In a nutshell, more than 4 million people have been infected and close to 1.5 million have recovered. However, the most painful part of this tragedy are the more than two hundred thousand people that are sadly no longer with us. Suffering, hopelessness and impotence have taken hold of humanity.

    Many churches that are doing all they can to continue encouraging humanity with the gospel of Jesus Christ and to serve in the midst of this crisis have had to close their doors in obedience with preventive social distancing measures. This reality has struck a hard blow to the faith of some, even more so when they have seen family members or friends die while ministers and pastors are powerless to do anything, even bury the dead.

    An answer

    The world appears to be without hope. But an answer for humanity today is waiting within the pages of the Bible:

    “I lift up my eyes to the hills – from where will my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:1–2).

    This plea at the beginning of Psalm 121 was probably called out by King David. It offers us hope in moments of anguish when all seems to be going badly, with no way out and nobody at hand to help us in the middle of a crisis.

    It is a plea that inspires us to still believe in hope, that God in God’s wisdom will bring much needed help – and on time as well. It reminds us that when humans are unable to find a solution of their own accord that can transform a hostile reality into a desired outcome, the living God, the Almighty, can help us to understand what has happened, often without exempting us from suffering.

    Understanding reality brings hope and nourishes our faith so that we can help others.

    Only God

    In reality it is only God who can sovereignly intervene and give insight to the scientists so that they can provide humanity with a cure to this disease as soon as possible. Alternatively, that they can miraculously save humanity from this lethal virus through some simple means.

    Psalm 91 poetically proclaims the hope of being freed from the grip of a deadly plague by portraying God as a father or mother who clothes their children in protective love in order to shield them from cold and danger. Surely what the psalmist is expressing is based on communal experiences of something similar or worse than the coronavirus that happened at some point in human history?

    “For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence; he will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.” (Psalm 91:3–4, NRSV)

    Jesus goes out to meet humanity

    Jesus Christ should be our only hope in moments like the one that humanity is living through today. It is precisely in situations like the one we find ourselves in that Jesus meets humanity, bringing hope, offering consolation to those that weep, healing the wounds of those who suffer from the evil that societies face at the moment. It is comforting to remember that when humanity was drowning in sin with no way out, Jesus brought salvation through his death on the cross.

    In this global context we could mention the prayer of Christ’s disciples as they faced a crisis caused by the threats made by the powers of the day. Those powers put at risk the Christian community’s freedom to preach the message of Christ, even to the point of their lives being in danger.

    “And now, Lord, look at their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” (Acts 4:29–30, NRSV)

    So, in the midst of these difficult times, it is possible for us as a global Anabaptist community to bring the hope of Jesus Christ to humanity as we pray to God for confidence and courage to live this reality while also offering help, love and prayer for health to those who are suffering and are without hope.

    —A Mennonite World Conference release by José Rutilio Rivas Domínguez, a pastor-theologian from Istmina, Colombia, and a member of the MWC Mission Commission.