Adapting Without Changing

We in the American church are having church the best way we can. I suppose the whole world has been forced to do things differently than normal, but I am obviously more aware of what is going on in America than in other places.

Pastors and church leadership are trying to do the very best they can to continue having church. Some churches have been broadcasting the audio of their services on Mixlr for a few years. Others have been broadcasting video of their services on YouTube and other platforms for a few years.

In some ways, these churches were a bit ahead of the curve. They were ahead of the curve in that they already had technology in place. They were also ahead in that their people and others outside their church were more familiar with the apps and knowledge necessary to access the electronic services.

The rest of us were scrambling. Churches went searching for ways to have church and some method to allow their people to hear or hear and see the services without gathering inside the sanctuary.

I was familiar with Mixlr. Several of our City Reach Tent Revival Services were broadcast on Mixlr in 2016. We have been listening to services on that platform since then, especially the preaching of our Pastor and Associate Pastor.

I knew nothing about broadcasting on Mixlr or YouTube. In the space of one weekend I learned everything I could about Mixlr and YouTube and on Monday, March 23, we had our first Online Revival service. We have had revival every night since then plus we have been asked to record our services for several other churches too.

Our initial commitment to have revival turned what could have been absolute downtime into a very busy ministry season! As I said in the beginning, Kelly Jo and I are not released from our calling from God just because the church is not meeting as usual. We must be faithful to our mission.

That is exactly what we have been trying to do. We are singing, we are preaching and we are moving forward in evangelism the best way we can find.

Churches are in the same position. They are trying to have church. They are trying to sing. They are trying to teach. They are trying to preach. They are trying to minister to their people the best they can without gathering them together in one building.

I absolutely love seeing churches take their services outside the four walls of the church. I am excitedly watching churches set up on the porch or in the parking lot and preach to people sitting in their cars. We have been doing that for years from under a tent and it thrills us to see the church's reach expand! Hallelujah!

It is just now getting (Almost) warm enough for outdoor services in southern Ohio. I expect to see more and more of them as spring weather tries to stick its head up and push winter aside. We considered in March taking our revival service outside, but the cold cramped my style.

As the country opens up in the next few weeks (Hopefully) everything we are doing will probably evolve again. We are going to have to continue to think outside the box and do what God has called us all to do.

What that looks like, I do not know. I have ideas. I have expressed those ideas to friends and I even mentioned an idea during revival the other night. We may have to mark off the places where people can sit in the church and still keep 6-8' of distance, figure up how many can attend at a time and have church in shifts. 

God help us to do whatever we need to do. We want to adapt our methods without changing the message. Let us press forward, my dear brothers and sisters! Let us explore new territory and take new ground. 

I believe this can be the church's finest hour, but we can not be timid in our approach. We must find our direction and be bold! God help us all!

Thank you for reading today.

Davy