Pastor's Blog: A "Realm" of Possibilities
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Anyone who has discovered the productivity of newer technologies sometimes has to shake his head and wonder how we ever lived without these things. Everything seems to have gotten “smarter” from the phones we use to the televisions we watch to the cars that we drive, and in the process, we like to think that so have we. We have become smarter also.
Even the church has benefited from these new technologies. Having done church for over forty years, I chuckle when I think of mimeograph machines and carbon duplicates. Those tools certainly served their purpose in their day, but no church I know of would ever think of going back to them. We’d much rather utilize the latest know-how at our disposal and be on the cutting edge of ones coming online almost every month so that we can be as efficient and productive in God’s work as others are in theirs.
One technology that we have begun using at the church is called “Realm.” At its core, Realm is a web-based software tool that enables users to access data from anywhere. But unlike other such databases, this one allows us to make it available to our membership so that you too can access important information and, more importantly, register for ministry events from your smartphone or computer. All you need to do is sign up for an account on Realm and then you’ll be set to interact with us in the church office in a far more convenient way.
Here’s why I’m using this column to emphasize Realm’s importance. As you know, we are pointing toward allowing for folk to return to gathered worship on June 14 – with safeguards, restrictions, and requirements in place. Because we are limited in the number of attendees in worship to 150 during this season of social distancing, we are asking our members to make a reservation for the service of their choice so that we can make sure we can accommodate attendees. As we’ve looked at the various software options for this purpose, none will serve us better than Realm, which is the tool to which we’ve already transitioned in the church office! So, as we prepare for that first Sunday back on June 14, we need you to go ahead and sign up with a Realm account.
How do you do that? If we have your email at the church, today you should see a message in your Inbox from the church that will provide you a link, which will take you to Realm, where you can set up your account. If you don’t see the email, check your junk folder in case it was flagged as spam.
Your account in Realm will be confidential in that once you set it up, you will be able to determine what information you want the rest of the membership to have access to. It’s an easy process; that’s my assessment anyway, and I’m certainly no tech-savvy person. But if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact Amy Hirsch (amy@mbbc.org or 205.704.3500) or Barbara Morgan (barbara@mbbc.org or 205.803.3443). Also, Joel Burks, our video guru, has made two videos to help you – one on how to sign up for Realm and the other on how to sign up to attend a worship service through Realm. You’ll see those two videos on our enewsletter and church website.
Of course, if you don’t feel comfortable with setting up an account in Realm, you can also register your desire to attend worship by calling the front desk and having the receptionist do so for you. But we need to utilize Realm so that we have one list we can plan from. That way, if we were to have an attendee who developed COVID-19 symptoms, we would be able to contact others who were in attendance that Sunday to let them know of their need to be tested.
All of this is yet another thing I never would have imagined we’d need to have in place. But as we’ve all seen, these are not normal times. So, in order to be as responsible as we can, having such a technology is not just “smart,” it’s also sensitive, and what church wouldn’t want to convey that level of concern in everything it’s about?
So, please check your email and sign up for your Realm account sooner rather than later. We’re doing our best to make the way forward into an uncertain future go as smoothly as possible. However, your participation is essential before we can make all these possibilities become realities. Thank you in advance for doing so. Consider it as just another way that together we can “Love God, and Live with Grace and Generosity.”
"If possible, on your part, live at peace with everyone" (Romans 12:18).