Page 36 - Presbyterian Connection – Spring 2021

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PRESBYTERIAN
SPRING 2021
presbyterian.ca
Connection
CONGREGATIONAL LIFE
Seeing the Spectrum: Ministry During the Pandemic
to online worship. Not every con- gregation had people with gifts and technical expertise. Not every con- gregation had the funds to purchase HD cameras, computers and other electronic equipment. Congregations in rural and remote areas frequently lacked access to reliable high-speed Internet service.
Congregations offering online ser- vices expected to see a decline in attendance. Most reported to their surprise an increase in attendance, sometimes well above that of in-per- son Sunday services. This prompted the obvious question, “Who are they?” While it was not always pos- sible to discover who the attendees were, many congregations were able to determine they came from the fol- lowing groups:
• The “Only Game in Town” peo- ple – if everything else is closed, what else are we going to do on a Sunday morning but go to church?
• The “Home Church” people – those who had moved away but still maintained a connection to their home church and were now able to attend services online, re- gardless of where they lived.
• Elderly and infirm members – people who were unable to physically come to worship at their church but who could par- ticipate online.
• The “Housecoat and Slippers” people – those who opted for the convenience of worship- ping in the comfort of their own homes.
• The “Tire Kickers” – church shoppers flitting from service to service, though many congrega- tions saw this as an opportunity for evangelism and outreach!
• Members from other congrega- tions not holding online services of their own.
• Family members of the minister and elders.
• Those who were hurt by the church but still needed what the church had to offer, online at- tendance was safe for them.
• Those for whom the church building was a place of recent loss; for instance, a church fu- neral, online worship was a way to ease back into community life.
This common congregational ex- perience of increased attendance at online services, because they were reaching people who weren’t being reached through in-person services, resulted in an emerging consensus: some online worship presence would have to continue after “normality” returned, even though provision of both online worship and in-person worship would be demanding on clergy and lay worship planners and leaders.
Pastoral Care Issues
The inability to offer a ministry of presence was identified as a core pastoral care issue. This prompted theological reflection on what it meant to be the church as the body of Christ when we cannot be physically present to each other. Keeping mem- bers connected proved challenging as congregations experimented with online Bible study and prayer groups, virtual coffee hours and creative on- line programs for children and youth. The sacraments of baptism and Holy Communion were postponed; some congregations held Communion services adapted for a video confer- encing format. Visits to members in hospitals, long-term care facilities and palliative care units were at best severely restricted, and at worst not permitted at all. We heard painful ac- counts of ministers who could not call on elderly members living alone, which only added to their isolation; and ministers who could not visit dying members in their final hours. Funerals proved especially difficult. In some cases, funerals could not be held at all and had to be postponed, depriving grieving families of the physical support of their clergy and congregations. Ministers struggled with enormous pressure not to fol- low public health restrictions when their pastoral instinct was to provide some measure of in-person pres- ence in times of loss.
Another central pastoral care is- sue was the general sense of grief and loss experienced not just by congregations and clergy, but by the entire community. Everyone was missing the various ways we gath- ered together, not just as families and friends, but as a society as sporting events, community festivals, parades and other shared cultural events were cancelled. Major milestones like birthdays, anniversaries and gradu- ations could not be celebrated in the usual ways, if at all. Significant planned events like family vacations and weddings were postponed or cancelled outright. Important holi- days and annual traditions became casualties of the pandemic. Even ordinary routines and simple tasks were disrupted. A simple trip to the grocery store required more time and effort as all were required to wear masks and line up outside where the number of people permitted in build- ings was restricted.
The collective grief and loss of all things normal affected everyone. Congregations and clergy faced the challenge of offering hope and en- couragement even as they managed their own losses and their own grief.
Self-Care Issues
A number of ministers indicated they were going through a kind of voca-
tional mini-crisis in the early months of the pandemic when public ser- vices of worship were cancelled and other congregational activities sus- pended. With no services, no visita- tion, no meetings or congregational programs, some clergy wondered, “What do I do as a minister when I can’t do the tasks of ministry for which I trained? What do I do with my week? How do I justify my sti- pend, especially if the congregation has had to cut back the custodian’s hours or lay off the music director?”
A kind of “works righteousness” crept in as ministers felt the pressure to be doing something, anything, to be productive and “earn their keep.” It was often a challenge to gain per- spective, set priorities, trust God and learn on a daily basis to live by grace. The ministers who were coping rela- tively well during the pandemic iden- tified one or more of the following factors as being important in their ministerial self-care:
• Attention to significant per- sonal connections with others: spouse/partner, family, friend.
• Attention to proper diet, exercise and sleep.
• Building in Sabbath times of rest and renewal: taking days off and vacations, enjoying hobbies.
• Collegial support: regular online gatherings with trusted col- leagues to share the joys and challenges of ministry in a time of pandemic, and to realize they were not alone because they were all facing the same issues and challenges.
• The practice of spiritual dis- ciplines: prayer, meditation, scripture reading, or other ways of nourishing their souls and re- storing their spirits.
Summing Up: The Spectrum
Conversations revealed a spectrum of experiences during the pandem- ic. At one end of the spectrum, we heard about challenge and pain. We heard from clergy who were ex- hausted, burned out and wondering, “How long, O Lord?” We heard from ministers who were struggling with physical and mental health issues, and who were using the anony- mous counselling services pro- vided by the Employee Assistance Program offered to professional church workers through the Pension and Benefits office. We heard from congregations that were struggling, especially smaller, more elderly, and rural or remote congregations who were wondering, “Will the burning bush go out on our watch?” And we heard how difficult it was to be the minister in a struggling pastoral charge, dealing with a sense of fail- ure, especially when other congre-
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By the Rev. Tim Purvis, Associate Secretary,
Ministry and Church Vocations
In the spring of 2020, national church office staff began to attempt to call the ministries, clerks of presbytery and clerks of synod to hear how things were going and how people were doing in this difficult time.
The more than 969 ministries and clerks were divided into call lists given to par ticipating members of the na- tional church office staff. Calls began in late April and continued until after Christmas. The responses covered a broad spectrum. Some congregations were doing remarkably well and found creative ways to meet the challenges of the times. Other congregations were struggling and deeply concerned about their future. Some ministers were coping well with stress and adapting to ministry under difficult cir- cumstances. Others were dealing with exhaustion, burnout, depression and health issues brought on by unprec- edented ministry demands. As one of our ministers put it, “Some things are flying; others are dying.”
What Did We Hear?
In the initial few weeks, we heard much anxiety and uncertainty. We noted how a general shift occurred around the three-month mark. Before that time, many accepted temporary arrangements, assuming the pan- demic health restrictions would end soon and that things would return to normal.
After three months, the realization set in that we were in it for the long haul. We were in a marathon, not a sprint, and needed to adapt accord- ingly. We heard anxiety about finan- cial concerns. “How long can we
continue without the offerings and donations coming in? Will we have to close the church permanently?” Ministers and congregations were shifting their focus to the most im- mediate and pressing priorities.
We noticed a progression as min- isters and congregations transitioned to the “new normal.” The first round of questions we heard mainly had to do with how to move worship ser- vices online. Staff from the Life and Mission Agency worked to prepare online resources and to respond to questions and provide technical as- sistance to ministers and congrega- tions. This was quickly followed by a second round of questions con- cerning financial issues: “How do we gather offerings? How do we set up a donation portal on our church web- site? What do we do if we have to cut back the hours of, or lay off, our church staff?” Again, staff prepared resources and offered guidance and technical assistance.
Then we star ted to get questions about “usual” church matters. Ses- sion and presbytery clerks and com- mittee chairpersons asked about how to hold meetings online. Interim mod- erators asked about the mechanics of a search-and-call process to fill a pulpit vacancy. At this point it was evi- dent clergy and congregations were beginning to adapt to ministry in what was becoming “the new normal.”
The Shift to Online Worship
Many congregations chose early on to offer their Sunday services online, following the closure of their church buildings to public worship. Not all congregations were able to do this. Typically, the congregations with the human, financial and infrastructure resources were able to make the shift