The last “normal” service for Heartland Baptist Church was March 8, with our morning attendance near our average of 500. The following Sunday, March 15, was our last in-person service before the ‘shut-down,’ and we only had 360, which at the time seemed low. That is until the next Sunday, where we only had the prescribed ten.
Frankly, we struggled to get up to speed with online services. We already were on Facebook, so adding a devotion for kids, teens, young adults was a great idea. Then we learned about ‘upload’ speed and had to space out all those videos. Within a few weeks, thanks to our church staff, we had things going sort of smoothly with a much-expanded understanding of YouTube and Facebook. However, we were kicked off Facebook even this last Sunday because of our pre-service ‘Bible quiz’ music.
When Iowa lifted the restrictions in our county (the two south of us are still under restrictions), I met with our deacons to decide what to do. We decided to open up our two morning services (8:30 am and 11 am) but to keep Sunday school, evening service, and Wednesday services all online at least through the end of May and perhaps through June or even the summer.
We sent a letter out to our entire congregation to let them know of this decision and that if they wished to attend, that we have a truly ‘touchless’ church service. We put door props on all our front doors so that no one has to open a door. We had no bulletins. We sang everything off the screens so that no one picked up a hymnal and, of course, no handshaking. We had no café, no Noah’s Ark (nursery, toddlers, preschool) although we did have kid’s church and started a teen ministry during the services. These two ministries had checkerboarded floors with 6ft squares for each child or teen to sit in. In the Sanctuary, we closed off every other row and didn’t use center chairs, which allowed us to keep the 6ft distance.
On our first Sunday back with in-person services, we had about 75 in each of our morning services. Some wore masks, some were a little apprehensive, but we practiced social distancing so well, I think it gave all present a sense of security. We had about half a dozen kids and teens in each service, and the parents liked our cautious efforts. I do expect our in-person attendance to increase each week slowly, but time will tell, and the Lord knows all these things. I think communication is key to convey that you are only providing an in-person option, no guilt if they choose to watch online. If they attend in person, things are very safe.
Just writing this wore me out emotionally all over again!