Muncie--Saint Andrew P.C.

Rev. Ramona Dale
YouTube
Being a technologically-challenged pastor who is extremely camera-shy, this has been a rough couple of weeks.  I have learned more "stuff" than I ever wanted to know and I have "gotten over myself" in more ways than I ever imagined.  I'll spare you the details of how we finally settled on our approach but here's what's working for us at St. Andrew Presbyterian in Muncie:
  • Bible studies are being held at their regular time via ZOOM.  This has been a life-saver for many of my older folk who look forward to gathering with their friends each week.  It also provides an opportunity for theological reflection on how God moves in a time of crisis.  The discussion has been honest, emotionally raw, and incredibly inspiring.
  • Worship is pre-recorded on Saturdays in the sanctuary and uploaded to a newly created YouTube channel.  I send out an all-church email Saturday afternoon with the link and copies of the order of worship and the hymns so everyone can sing and pray along.  We don't make it public until the wee hours of Sunday morning to encourage everyone to worship together at our regular time.  
  • Worship is recorded in a series of videos that are put in a playlist that will automatically play in order one after the other.  This allows us to easily insert liturgists and special music from people in the congregation who record their part with a cell phone or laptop and send it to me before Saturday.  This week will feature a young family doing the call to worship and the song of celebration, a ruling elder reading the scripture, and a musician singing a special song for Palm Sunday.  
  • Sunday morning fellowship is held via ZOOM at 9:30 am.  Everybody brings their own coffee mug and I have found that asking a specific question after everybody says hello is a helpful way to get people talking.  Last Sunday, the question was "Where have you seen God working this past week?"  Then at 10 am, we say goodbye and all go to YouTube to worship together but separately.  Seeing each other's faces has been incredibly important.  
  • We just added a playlist called Midweek Musings where I will post a song, reading or anything else that somebody wants to share in order to provide encouragement each week.  This link is sent in a Wednesday church update email that lists what the various committees are still doing to show that the ministry of the church is still alive and well.
  • We are currently working on adding Sunday School with Stephanie who will read a story or do a craft for the younger ones.  This keeps her face in front of them and keeps them connected.
You can find these things at:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgSeivqBLwXWWV0JyVXLUWA/playlists
 
We have a few members who are not online that get regular calls when an email goes out.  Our deacons have been wonderful about calling the folks in assisted living on lockdown and one member of the congregation decided to do a "window wave" for the ones on the first floor.  
 
Session has met via ZOOM.  We have called those without access on our cell phones and put them on speaker so they are still part of the discussion.
 
I am very fortunate to have a talented, tech-savvy staff (especially Robert Willey, our accompanist) that have truly gone above and beyond to make sure we stay connected.  And I'm so proud of our members who have bravely tried new ways of communicating with one another.  It's been a joy to see how tickled they get when they actually log on, see everybody's faces and say, "Oh!  This is fun!!"