Church Family Update - April 21, 2020

As these strange days continue to blur one into the next, and with no clear end in sight, I set aside some time this morning to look back and remember how things have unfolded and brought us to the place we find ourselves in today as a church. 

On Friday, March 13 I was in a room packed full of people at a Classis meeting at Bethel CRC in Lacombe. The meeting was scheduled for March 13-14. Things felt a little different. People were talking about the virus and we weren’t shaking hands but other than that it felt like a pretty normal meeting.

Then someone stood up and said, “Do you realize that almost every pastor in our Classis is at this meeting? All it would take is for one of us to start showing symptoms and we would all have to self-quarantine and there would be no pastors available in our Classis.”

So a motion was made and seconded and discussion followed. Like any issue that is discussed at Classis, there was a range of opinions. Some people said we shouldn’t make decisions based on fear. Others said it’s not being fearful but responsible. I said nothing and just listened. 

Finally a vote was taken. It was close but in the end we decided to continue and finish up our essential business throughout the remainder of that day and then not resume our meeting the following day. 

On the following Sunday, March 15th, we decided to live-stream our service so that people would have the option of participating from home if they preferred. In God’s providential timing we had recently live-streamed Gary Arink’s memorial service to Holland and that is the only reason why we were able to immediately start live-streaming our services. 

On March 15th many people opted to stay home while many others gathered at the church building for worship. We didn’t shake hands and we didn’t pass the offering basket but other than that it was a pretty normal service. I specifically remember thinking to myself after that service, “Well that felt strange having so many people missing but I’m sure we’ll all be back together next week.” (I don’t know if you know this but I’m an off-the-charts optimist.)

Then on that evening, Sunday March 15th, we received a message from Covenant Christian School that classes would be suspended indefinitely due to the virus. And it was at that moment that I finally realized that things weren’t going to go back to normal for at least a little while. 

I took my regular day off on Monday, March 16th. Then on Tuesday morning I sat down at my computer and wrote the first “Ebenezer Update.” I started with some good news. Followed by some prayer requests. And then a devotional thought. 

At the time I thought I’d be writing these updates for maybe two or three weeks. But here I am once again on a Tuesday morning sitting down to write an update and it’s been five weeks. And who knows how many more weeks are yet to come?

Up to this point I’ve just been winging it. But now I realize I’m going to have to have more of an intentional plan. For example, are we going to celebrate the Lord’s Supper from our homes? Is it possible to baptize our new babies given our current context? How can we set up a safety net in order to make sure that no one is slipping through the cracks and all the physical and spiritual needs of each member of our church are being met? 

These are the questions I’m asking myself as I consider the very real possibility that this new way of doing church might stretch on into the summer. I don’t know the answers to those questions. Tomorrow I have a meeting with many of the pastors from different churches in Leduc and we will discuss together what church ministry might look like during this time.

This is a season of a lot of questions without answers. But here are a few things I do know. I know that Ebenezer is a special church full of wonderful people. And I know that Christ is the head of our church and I know that God is sovereign. I know that the gates of hell won’t prevail against the church. And I’m confident that Ebenezer will emerge from this stronger and healthier than ever. But in the meantime, we’ll have to figure out together how to be the church in these unusual times.  

I intend to continue writing these updates because I’ve heard enough positive feedback to think that they at least help a little bit to keep us connected to one another during this time of isolation. But I may change the format a bit. The original format was intended as a short-term solution. In the longer term I think there’s probably a more effective way for me to do this. 

For now I want to say a genuine thank-you to each of you for your prayers and encouragement. One thing that has not changed during these unexpected times is that I still love serving as your pastor. As I have stated many times, please let me know if you have any needs or if I can serve you in any way. I am making my way through the directory and trying to contact each household. But it is slow-going as my other duties have not decreased during this time. So please, if you have a need, reach out and give me a call. 

May you find moments of deep blessing, peace and joy today.

With gratitude to God for you,

Pastor Jason