Online Church. Virtual Church. Livestream Church. Whichever words you want to use, the global pandemic COVID-19 has forced us to cancel our regular weekly Sunday service, ministries, and Community Group meetings until May, at least meeting in person. But it’s in times like these that the Church continues to be that, a Church. We may not gather in groups, but we still are the Church.
Now more than ever, our community needs us to be the salt and light during this pandemic. We need to pray more fervently. We must care more deeply. We must share the hope of the Gospel often. We need to engage more, with one another and with the city, doing what we can to serve and help. We think of Noelle, one of our Sower Church members, who has been helping make handmade fabric masks for Bryan Health because of the shortage of facemasks around the nation for our medical professionals, the ones on the front lines against this illness.
No doubt, life has changed drastically, but the goal of Sower Church is to still be visible during these unprecedented times, not retreat in fear or panic. We continue to follow guidelines to slow the spread of COVID-19, but technology gives us opportunities to still make our presence and faith count. Here are the ways we are making the most of technology:
- Weekly live streams – Thankfully, in an era of live streaming, we can still come together digitally and reach many people in our city who are looking for hope. Our pastors have been delivering their weekly messages online. All of our live streams are available on our YouTube Channel.
- Staying connected – Our Community Groups meet virtually every week. We are thankful for Zoom, Google Hangouts, Microsoft Teams that allow our Community Groups to catch up on life, share verses, and pray together. We may be in an era of social distancing, but we all must stay connected. A phone call, a text message, Marco Polo, SnapChat, Voxer are all mediums to encourage one another and check in with people.
- Social Media – Sower Church has always believed that social media is a tool we can use to encourage and to promote our ministries. With what is facing us these days, we hope to continue using Instagram and Facebook to promote our faith, hope, and love in Jesus.
We pray that we can leverage technology as an opportunity to be a light and salt to our city, that Sower Church continues to engage, lead, love, and be present hope in this uncertain time.