Scattered but Worshipping Together

So, yes I am a pastor. I care for a church of people and each Sunday for 127 years there has been prayer happening here in this Field, barring bad weather or the occasional single Sunday away. I still don't know what happened here during the Spanish Influenza pandemic of 1918-1920, though I'm looking though old minutes. But I don't think they closed the doors then. But for this pandemic our doors are closed for who know how long.

So how do we provide some sense of community and corporate worship and prayer experience for the people who normally worship here. Many churches are internet streaming empty sanctuaries with preachers preaching from the front. That's fine for them. But we figure we're not really streaming people. For some they would have difficulty making it work, for others, they don't even have the internet in their homes yet.

So we settled on the idea of Scattered but Worshipping Together. We prepared a sheet of prayers and scripture readings along with a short devotional. At 11 am on Sunday, families, couples and individuals throughout the area gathered in their homes to worship "Together."  Early reviews report that it was a significant time for people. This may not end up being a season of lack, but a season of abundance, as people worship together in ways maybe they've never experienced before.

Its the community people miss the most. Connection and community is a big part of our long history.  I hope we don't have to do this for an extended period of time but it remains to be seen how long this will go.

I am comforted by the fact that none of this is a surprise to God. Christ has been the head of his church for over 2000 years and has seen it through some pretty dark days.  He did warn us that in this world we would have troubles. 

Boy, was he right.