Pastor's Blog: We Make Ministry Possible
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Over the weekend I read an article in the Wall Street Journal, titled “The Long Shadow of the Pandemic: 2024 and Beyond.” The gist of the article was that even when the world returns to “normal,” the legacy of COVID will have transformed pretty much everything we know, and “normal” at least as we knew it, won’t happen until sometime in 2024.
At first, the article deflated me. But then I’ve been flat a lot over the last several months, anticipating that the virus would be over or under control or there would be a vaccine or herd immunity, or something. But as the article in the WSJ pointed out, even when the vaccine is available and people deem it safe, it will take months for it to be distributed before things can return to anything that resembles “normal.” Now, you’re probably as deflated as I was.
But then I got to thinking how none of this coronavirus chaos came as a surprise to God; and, in fact, if we look back at how God has been leading us at MBBC over the past several years, we’ve seen how we have been able to put a ministry structure in place that has allowed us to carry on with the work God has given us to do.
For example, back when we were going through our Vision 2020 process, we had no idea what 2020 would bring, but God did. And so as we followed the Holy Spirit’s leading, we were moved to ramp up our church’s online presence in a way we never dreamed we would utilize. But as a result, each Sunday, MBBC reaches far more people through our worship stream than we did with our pre-COVID in-person gatherings. Add to that reach our online discipleship offerings and devotions, and the number of people now receiving spiritual support from MBBC grows even more.
In addition to that, we drilled down on small groups in our fellowship and how we could release such groups to meet at other times than Sunday morning, a move that has allowed a number of people to stay connected during this season of social distancing. While we may moan and groan over the number of Zoom meetings we have to participate in on a regular basis, we’re seeing groups in our church use this platform to stay connected, and to do in ways I predict will last long after the virus is gone.
Finally, we’ve looked for avenues to allow people to give to the church’s ministry plan beyond the passing of the plate, a staple of ministry support we have not been able to offer for at least seven months. But now, people are giving online, they’re giving by text messaging, and they’re even giving through the “old-fashioned” method of dropping their tithes and offerings by the church office. As a result, we’ve managed our ministry needs in these most trying times in ways that have kept our fellowship financially strong.
And all the while our ministerial staff has been incredibly creative in planning and adjusting and carrying out ministry activities that other churches could not figure out how to make happen. We’ve done VBS and service days and a host of other age-graded discipleship gatherings, all at a time when many of our sister congregations have just now resumed in-person worship, something we’ve been doing uninterruptedly for five months.
My point is that we have listened to God’s leading and put structures in place that, as the 2020 plan put it, has “made ministry possible” when other churches thought ministry to be impossible. I credit two groups. I credit our staff, both ministerial and support, for their able and resilient spirit and I credit our congregation for their courage, their commitment, and their compliance.
So, if it does turn out that we will be dealing with this virus into the year 2024, there’s no reason for us to panic and to think that the sky is falling. In fact, if we sense anything coming down, it will be God’s sovereign presence drawing near to us to see our church through this challenging time to a better one.
So, stay focused, stay faithful, and keep looking up. Better days are ahead and whatever comes our way before then is sure to contain vast opportunities, ones that only an exemplary church like ours can ever hope to seize.
“(We) can do all this through Him who gives (us) strength” (Philippians 4:13).