Charles Darwin Joined The Church

 Hello Church,

We, the Church, need to continue the message that God does not become irrelevant just because our circumstances change.

As such, one thing is clear as we head into 2021.  The church needs to innovate new ways to connect people.

The virus won't be over anytime soon.  Even with a vaccine being shipped today, it will be many months before we see the end of it.  Our safety measures will continue in place, but this only emphasizes the obvious.  We need to find new ways to connect people.

2020 has emphasized the option of online worship.  It was here before, but necessity has brought it to the forefront.  Not only cutting-edge churches, but now middle-of-the-road churches (like Emmanuel) are wondering about the long-term impact of having or not having online worship.  The life-breath of ministry may hinge on online options.

For example, at Emmanuel, some small groups have evolved into Zoom groups.  Those that haven't evolved have not met at all or very rarely.  Maybe they will start back when in-person meeting becomes safer, but people who become disconnected (especially the newer people), in my experience, have a more difficult time getting connected a second time.

So what do we do?

It seems that new ministry ideas need to be presented with the present context in mind.  Zoom, Skype, Youtube, Facebook Live and other online options are no longer a temporary fix.  They are becoming a standard which will be included in most, if not all, new ministry ideas.  Even when the virus is dead and gone, we have learned that advantages and convenience of online options are too good to let go. 

We, the Church, need to continue the message that God does not become irrelevant just because our circumstances change.  This means evolving with our contexts while maintaining the same message.  If we don't, congregations will start dying at an accelerated rate.  This includes Emmanuel.

I intend to encourage you to think differently.  Be ready to learn.  Be ready to innovate.  Be ready to connect in new ways.  I'm going to start by encouraging myself to learn, innovate and think differently.  A challenging year awaits, for sure.

God is Good,

Pastor Joe