The Rush to Adapt

I don't write on this blog very often these days. More precisely, I should say I don't publish on the blog. I often use it to write out my thoughts and then self-edit from going public. There's enough muck on the interwebs.

Yesterday, however, I posed a question on my Facebook page for which I received many thoughtful responses. It seems only fair that I wrestle with the questions myself and share a bit of the internal turmoil which led to the asking. Here's the post I shared:

With the closures of public gatherings due to Covid 19, I'm just curious about the rush by churches to put things online. 

Have any churches considered taking this time as sabbath rest? What are the psychological forces that are driving this urgency to broadcast services, especially for churches that have never done it? What is within this impulse to "keep going"? What, if anything, does it reveal about our spiritual lives? What, if anything, does it imply about the vitality of the church? 

These are earnest questions; I'm not being critical of the effort, but I am wondering....

First, some truth in disclosure. I work from home probably 90 percent of the time. My public and social patterns basically consist of going to an office once a week, church choir practice and weekly worship (sometimes 2x on Sunday), a regular breakfast with a mentor/friend, an occasional date night with my wife, and errands. Largely this pattern is due to the fact that I am the primary daytime support/caregiver for our 24 year old son with Williams Syndrome. Where I go, he goes, and where he goes I go, with some exceptions. This includes doctor visits, Special Olympics sporting events, and other related activities. So at a very basic level, Covid-19 social distancing simply feels like an extension of my daily life. I image it does for others as well.

Another thing to know before reading on is that I'm an ordained minister and have worked in the church in some capacity for nearly my entire life. I'm a "company man" as it may be. I have a love/hate relationship with the church; I've experienced both the best and the worst. I've also contributed to both the best and the worst, which is a humbling reality.

Currently I am active in two local congregations. I admire, love, and respect the pastors of each congregation. I work closely with both pastors, especially in the area of worship, and have been a support and colleague for the one that's a church plant since its inception. I implicitly trust the leadership and faithfulness of each of these Godly women. In fact, I trust all the leadership in both these congregations. Those in leadership are wise and thoughtful, prayerful and devoted, kind and generous, courageous and just.

Each of these congregations has, necessarily and with intentionality, joined the myriad of churches and other social/civic/religious organizations who are voluntarily suspending group meetings in response to Covid-19. Each has said that some church functions, including worship, will continue online. Neither has regular practices of sharing online worship, although both use videoconferencing on some occasions for church meetings.

So, please understand that my questions are not critical. They are, however, nagging. Here's my list:

1. Is poor-to-moderate use of technology better than taking a few weeks off? 
2. Have we thought about how privilege and online church are related? What about those without internet, or computers, or smart phones, or knowledge of how to use these things? (Shout out to Oakland CoB and Pastor John Sgro where I understand they will be going to members and teaching them how to participate online!)
3. How will people who are always isolated feel when the church mobilizes so many resources to make sure that the never/rarely-isolated don't have to enter that space? What could we who are more able learn by entering the space of those less able for at least a little while?
4. Are we so dependent on the church for our weekly fix that we don't have personal resources for sustainable faith? Has our church gathering become more about each other than about God?
5. Does the institutional church always need to be organizing the Church in order for the Church to fulfill its mission? 
6. Have pastors examined their need to be in front of the "flock," to be interpreting the Word, to be seen? Like I said, I've been a pastor; I know the ego struggle.
7. Since people will be confined more, it's likely that they'll be staring at screens more; should the church also ask them to stare at a screen?
8. If people don't show up to the online sessions, what kind of censuring will there be? You know someone will be counting heads. How will the church respond to those people? If someone doesn't want to join in, how will the church make them feel?  
9. Is the church actually capable of offering the kinds of emotional, spiritual, and physical support that it seeks to provide through this medium? I'm not sure we're ready, although I'm confident God is.

Alternatively, I celebrate many of the things that I know from my two local congregations. Lest you think I'm only a skeptic, here are some of those things:

1. Our local church leaders are acting with the best intentions under extremely stressful and unusual circumstances. They are doing this prayerfully and thoughtfully.
2. God is pleased with the depth of our concern and the earnestness of our efforts, and where our efforts run short, God will make up the difference.
3. We all will have a chance to examine the core of our motivations, strength, humility, and faith.
4. Relatedly to #3, we have a wonderful opportunity to learn and grow spiritually through this time.
5. Churches which have wanted to better utilize video technology will have a reason to try it and refine it, and skeptics won't really be in a position to oppose it (for a few weeks).
6. The church will perhaps be reminded of the depth of isolation that already exists in our culture, and emerge recommitted to acting to address the reality.
7. Our interconnectedness will be reinforced, our need for one another and our desire to be in community will be rekindled, and our actions will be provoked toward openness and embrace.
8. We will continue to care for one another under trying conditions. We will show that God's love cannot be defeated, isolated, or consumed by a virus.

Those are some of my thoughts. I probably also should say that I'm an introvert by nature, so the prospect of being alone is welcome, not frightening. Additionally, this period of social distancing doesn't mean I get any time off work; I work from home most of the time anyway, remember?! And finally, I have three of my five immediate family members who interact with a wider public on a daily basis - my wife works in a daycare and my two youngest kids work in consumer goods retail (Meijer and Dollar Tree - it's been a crazy couple of days! And, no, they don't have any toilet paper and I don't know when the truck is arriving). So any good word and prayer you'd like to lift would be appreciated. 

This was a long post. Thanks for reading. Take care of one another. Comments are welcome; please use your name.