An original piece of music for your choir’s undertaking!
Written seventeen years ago, based on a melody from two hundred years ago!
This piece is appropriate for the First Sunday in Lent, but here it is being posted on the last Sunday of the season, this year… in ample time to learn it for next year!
Download the pdf-file, including SATB and accompaniment parts , here.
Audio of the first performance of this piece:
“In times of trial, we pray, guide us safely along the way.”
We have been asked to stay home. The coronavirus (COVID-19) is a pandemic that is circling the globe quickly, and – around the world – there have been many deaths already (for some Canada-specific stats, click here).
What does this mean for our church gatherings that are being suspended? If gathering weekly is our most public witness, and our most regular form of connecting, what do we do when we can’t go out?
Most people are on the internet, these days. Many churches have websites, engage some form of social media, and some already stream their services. There are ways to connect online. Even the smallest church-body can make use of these services without breaking the bank.
Here are a number of little-or-no-cost means of connecting via the world wide web! This is meant for those who are thinking, “where do I even begin?” (Disclaimer: if you have some basic internet skills, these suggestions are probably not new. This is an attempt to draw together in one place a number of things churches have been trying in recent years, and to offer them as churches scramble today.)
1) Website. This is perhaps the most basic, but also the most daunting. What is your congregational website for? (Will you use it as a static place with contact info and service-times, or will you be updating it regularly with meditations, and perhaps other media from around your church?) Will it be primarily for your membership, or is it for new people to learn about you for the first time? In a time of isolation, how will it be used? Generally, websites are respositories of information. Here is a helpful list of website builders, if you’re starting from scratch. (If that is overwhelming, I’d point you to Wix – it’s fairly easy to use, and can make a splashy website.) Note that you’ll probably want to spend the money on a domain name and hosting. Most online website builders, these days, make things “mobile ready,” but you might double-check that whatever you use does that – it means that the look of the screen adjusts for smart-phones and tablets, which is desirable.
2) Email blasts. Many churches collect email addresses along with mailing (or “snail mail”) addresses, these days, in their directories. Many will simply use their email program for sending out emails from the church. You may look into an online mass mailing software – it can make what you send easier to read, more fun to navigate, and generally more appealing (and, once you are using it, much easier to use than your email program). Perhaps the most popular online program for this is MailChimp.
3) Facebook. Understand the difference between a page and a group. There are other social media platforms, but Facebook tends to be the one that will be used by your parishoners the most (and has higher age-ranges using it). You will likely want to have a page for your congregation: among other things, it will allow you to use “Facebook live” (see #5, below) and to make your congregation visible to those who don’t have Facebook accounts. (A nod to the United Church of Canada, here, who started Wondercafe around the same time that Facebook broke through as the major social network – it was an early means of getting churches to connect online.)
4) Online offering. I think it’s fair to say that many churches have shied away from anything to do with money online – perhaps that’s prudent. It usually costs a percentage of the donation, or some flat fee that can feel like our offerings are being gouged. However, I’ve heard it said that “we’d rather have 90% of an offering than no offering at all.” And, in these days where people aren’t in church every Sunday, perhaps online offering is something to consider seriously. And, in a time of self-isolation, who is passing the plate? For Canadian charities, the most straight-forward, easy-to-set-up online donation site is CanadaHelps. If you have a charitable number, you can use that site.
5) Streaming live. Consider how you do this! Many churches are jumping to the “we are offering services live,” but in a time of isolation, what if the service amounts to the minister standing at the front alone? Maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t. (Maybe an edited video is your better option…? See #7) In normal circumstances, a live-streamed worship service (with members in the congregation who will participate in things like the singing of hymns and the Eucharist) is a lovely way to connect with parishoners and guests who can’t be there in-person. With a Facebook page, Facebook live is a quick and easy solution (can be done with minimal equipment: a smartphone is enough!). Here are some other online tools to get going (setting up an account, and possible subscription rates, will likely apply). Most of these streaming sites will stream live, and then archive your video, these days – which is cool!
6) Gathering by video conference. Perhaps you are doing a Bible Study? Perhaps you are running an event where you invite some back-and-forth between presenter and those attending. Committee meeting? This differs from a live-stream in some small ways. A stream is basically a video-broadcast (like a live TV show). A video-conference invites responses, sometimes in a chat-box or sometimes so that audio and video are used. So it is a conversation. You might be familiar with Skype, which requires users to have accounts. An easy-to-use online program for video conferencing is Zoom (the free version allows up to 100 people to gather at once for a meeting of up to 40 minutes). **UPDATE** Some are saying Zoom is not very secure; know your options with the program. Another free option is Jitsi.
7) Creating and sharing videos. This is where I would point people in place of streaming a service. My preference (which may not be yours) is to create something that may be shorter in length, but produced better – taking a bit of time to script, record, and edit something. If you use a Mac, iMovie is easy to use for assembling still photos with audio, or editing video footage (though it takes some time to learn). Windows has its own movie maker programs. There are open source ones available, too. Setting up a YouTube channel (like this one) is as easy as having an email address; in fact, if you have a gmail address, YouTube is ready-to-go.
8) A blog is a condensed word from “web-log” – it’s a place to put the written word online! WordPress is a popular platform that began as a place for people to post blogs, and turned into a place where people built their websites (like the one you’re checking out now – sort of “part-blog, part-website”). Here are a few others possibilities. Perhaps the pastor of your church will write reflections that can go on a blog for devotional purposes during this time of isolation.
9) Online cloud storage – once you start uploading things to the internet, where is it going to be stored? Perhaps you have digital files you want to share with members of your parish. These may be printable pdf or doc files, or some jpg picture files, or audio mp3 files, or even video mp4 files. You may want to have people download these and use them at home. An online cloud storage server is useful, here. Google Drive is easy and free to set up (and, like YouTube, if you have a gmail address, you already have it at your fingertips!). Box works well, too, and is being used by more and more churches. Most cloud storage is free for the first few gigabytes, but then a subscription rate kicks in once you exceed that amount (which may not happen if you’re only storing documents and pictures; it’s audio and video that adds up!).
10) QR codes. I don’t deny: this is not the “newest” form of communicating online, but in contexts where paper is still a regular medium of sharing the word – as it is in churches, still – QR codes are quick and easy for those with smartphones to find your website link. It saves having to type out a big long name that often includes a confusing list of numbers and letters! QR codes can be generated for free at sites like this one.
Bonus for the keeners… Podcasting! Do you have ideas to share in a radio-show format? Maybe this is the way to do it!
This list is not exhaustive, but it is meant to help with what may feel like an overwhelming task ahead of us in a situation with significant added pressures! And you might find you have capable people in your midst who are willing to spear-head different parts of your congregation’s online presence! Email or text a young person and invite their involvement!
No need to dive into all at once. Poll your membership, find out their needs, and go from there!
One note: the web-presence described in the suggestions, above, works well for a public presence. Pastoral care with individuals would need to be navigated differently.
Peace be with you!
How do we gather as faith communities when there is sickness spreading?
The coronavirus (covid-19) is gripping us throughout Canada, North America, and the world. People are stocking things like soap, hand sanitizer, toilet paper, and other goods, for fear of needing to live in isolation – not leaving their homes – for a good length of time. There are shelves in grocery stores that are bare!
Our church bodies have released statements with best practices policies for local congregations to implement. (See those from Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, Anglican Church of Canada, United Church of Canada.) The Lutheran World Federation has offered helpful words, and worship resources here. The Canadian Council of Churches released this statement.
Local congregations are needing to take action. We encourage our membership to gather – so what do we do in times when it can be risky to gather? Here is an article about how some have started to take added precautions.
In weekly gatherings for Christian communities, there are several places where we encourage physical contact:
-a greeting as we enter the space (usually with an usher or greeter)
-sharing the peace
-passing the offering plate
-holding a pew copy of a hymn book
-receiving Holy Communion
-a greeting as we exit the space (usually with the pastor)
So what do we do? Here are some ways in which we might address this situation, and avert further virus transmission:
-greet and share the peace with an ‘elbow bump,’ or using sign-language
-project words on a screen to avoid using shared hymn-books (this publisher is offering some ways of avoiding transmission by sharing books)
-do not use a common cup at Communion; individual cups can be set in the tray in a way that avoids transmission (see this pdf-file)
-place the offering plate in a central location for people to drop off their offering before, during, or after the service
-receive offering through pre-authorized services (like this one) or online (like CanadaHelps)
-offer your worship service in a live-stream, or video-record and edit and post to a YouTube channel like this one later on
-have servers distribute coffee for fellowship time so there isn’t potential to share germs on coffee-pot handles
-consider “brown-bag potluck lunches” as an option so there is less possibility for transmission
-make sure kitchen volunteers are prepared to receive and sanitize dishes properly, and wash their hands frequently
And, of course, encourage those who may be sick to stay home. Make hand sanitizer readily available.
Repeat the mantra, “wash your hands, don’t touch your face”
We may despair at news we hear, but this article is helpful by reassuring us that “Pandemic means sustained and continuous transmission of the disease, simultaneously in more than three different geographical regions. Pandemic does not refer to the lethality of a virus but to its transmissibility and geographical extension.”
Find up-to-date information on the Government of Canada’s website, here. (Wondering about how to identify symptoms? Here is a helpful article.)
**UPDATE** In light of the Prime Minister’s remarks on March 16th, it is advised that public gatherings be suspended, including worship services, in order to slow the spread of the virus. People are asked to stay home.
We hold in prayer those who are sick and their care-givers and families. We may offer to go grocery-shopping for them, or find ways to help them get their needs met.
This devotion offers prayerful words: “In a strange and unexpected way, we have been returned to the first day of Lent, when we journeyed with Jesus into the wilderness. Jesus himself has gone into a kind of self-isolation, not in fear of disease but in order to better hear himself and God, to be close to God and to test his own capacity for survival in the midst of trials.”
Peace be with you!
At Epiphany, this order for blessing the home is suggested.
It comes from the Augsburg Fortress’ Sundays and Seasons resource (for the online resource, click here).
You might choose to do it in your church community, or at home!
In our worship orders, it can be common to use an “Order of Confession and Forgiveness” – often at the beginning of a service. …and sometimes we’re more likely to include this part of the service when we’re in the reflective season of Lent – a time where we’re invited to ponder mortality, and our human nature and who we are in the world.
As an alternative, words using language about being bound to unjust systems and accepting responsibility for our part in such systems, as well as words of absolution that talk about being freed to live otherwise, are offered here (see pdf-files at the bottom of this entry).
We know that our food is often produced in far-away places, sometimes using chemicals that can poison water-sources and shipped on barges and trucks that release carbon into the air; we know that people work in poor conditions for long hours to sew the clothes we wear; we know that the coffee we drink, the chocolate we enjoy, the metals used in the production of our electronics… all of these have significant human and environmental cost – and we don’t need to turn a blind eye to such costs. We can work to change those systems.
The first step to change is to acknowledge the injustice and our part in it. So, more than saying that we are bound by “sin,” let’s name those places where our lives are detrimental to relationship with others. Let’s say it out loud, and let’s work to change our living.
God is gracious, God frees us to live justly – to work at living in a way that all may have life.
(The image of hands that is used was found in Sundays and Seasons a number of years ago – credit to Augsburg Fortress)
pdf file: LITURGY_bondage-liberation_pew-insert
pdf file: LITURGY_bondage-liberation_presider
resource written by pastors Tyler Gingrich, Nolan Gingrich, Vern Sundmark
This activity is meant for Transfiguration Sunday (ideally at the end of the service) or Ash Wednesday or Lent 1 (ideally, at the start of the service).
I have typed up the words “allelujah” a few times in a few different fonts to be pasted around the worship space. The children will be invited to gather them, and then they will be ”buried” for the season of Lent.
Attached to this post, at the bottom, you should find a pdf-file with Alleluia/Hallelujah – print it out (perhaps a few times if you have lots of kids and/or a big worship space). Cut up the pages so each word can be put up separately. If your congregation is a musical one, plan a song or two – talk with your musicians! (The stand-up, sit-down Sunday School classic – “Allelu, allelu, allelu, allelu-ia! …Praise Ye the Lord!” – works well!) The picture of the rock with water coming from it (which I found in Sundays and Seasons a number of years ago – credit to Augsburg Fortress!) is supposed to be purple, and you can paste it to the outside of a medium-to-large-sized envelope. This envelope will be used to contain the paper Alleluias.
Talk with the children about the word and what it means. It comes from the Hebrew for “Praise God!” We hear it regularly in worship texts, especially ancient ones like the Psalms. We stand to sing it before the gospel reading on Sunday. And, it’ll be sung louder (and “prouder”) than ever on Easter morning! …but for the season of Lent – a time of fasting, prayer, and alms-giving – we put our Alleluias away. In a sense, we “bury” them.
So, in this moment, before we move into the solemn, contemplative season of Lent, we sing out the Alleluias one last time!
Then, gather the Alleluias from around the worship space and put them in the envelope.
The envelope of Alleluias may be placed under the altar for the season of Lent (also a reminder that we don’t sing Alleluia in Lent).
At the Easter morning service (or the Vigil, if you have one; or the Sunrise service), get the kids to “uncover” the Alleluias again – and sing them out with gusto!!
pdf-file: Alleluias
LITURGY_EucharisticPrayers-Presider
Sometimes, when we invite people into our midst who may not have the benefit of a church background, our words in worship sound foreign. In this case, what does it mean to share “the body” and “the blood” of Jesus. It has to do with Jesus’ presence and life, and we are sent into the world to be Jesus’ presence and life in the world after having received at the Table. The words may be used to convey that meaning.
At the Table – using words that convey meaning
Words of Institution
On the night
on which Jesus was betrayed,
he sat at supper with his disciples.
While they were eating,
he took a piece of bread,
said a blessing, broke it
and gave it to them with the words,
‘This is my body. I am present with you.
When you share this one loaf, remember me.’
Later, he took a cup of wine, saying,
‘This is the new relationship with God made possible because of my life,
When you share this cup, remember me.’
Post-Communion Blessing
Now may the presence and life which you have received in these elements of bread and wine strengthen and keep you in God’s grace into life everlasting.
Adapted by Rev. Tyler Gingrich, Rev. Vern Sundmark (All Saints Lutheran Church 2005-2012)
Recommended resources:
“A Wee Worship Book” (Wild Goose Worship Group), and “Shaping Sanctuary” (edited by Kelly Turney)