Legal Opinion: Illinois’s Stay at Home Executive Order

In reviewing Illinois’s Stay at Home Executive Order 2020-10, it is my understanding that church gatherings of more than 10 persons is expressly prohibited by this order (See Clause 3). The Order requires all individuals to stay home in their place of residence, except for essential activities. In my reading of the order, church services are not exempted as essential, and the Illinois.gov COVID-19 FAQ’s specifically say that church services “will be cancelled.” Additionally, this Executive Order may be enforced by state and local police.

Social Distancing is required during essential activities (See Clause 15).  Here are a few essential activities which are identified in the Executive Order:

– Clause 12.c. Organizations that provide charitable and social services, such as food, shelter, and other necessities of life for economically disadvantaged or otherwise needy individuals;

– Clause 12.q. Residential facilities and shelters;

– Clause 12.w. Funeral services.

Regular church services are not exempted.  Additionally, educational institutions and restaurants shall not operate classes and meals on premises through April 7, 2020.

Executive Order 2020-10 is in effect Saturday March 21, 2020 at 5:00 pm through April 7, 2020.

I am providing this as a legal opinion. Please see below for links to Executive Order 2020-10 and related FAQ’s, which are both available at Illinois.gov.

https://www2.illinois.gov/Documents/ExecOrders/2020/ExecutiveOrder-2020-10.pdf

https://www2.illinois.gov/dceo/Documents/Stay%20at%20Home%20EO%20FAQ_.pdf

God bless,

Victoria D. Pipkin, Esq.
Attorney at Law
Converge MidAmerica Executive Board Member

Top Ideas from Week Two of Coronavirus Quarantine

As we enter week two of the Coronavirus quarantine one thing is clear – the “novelty” has worn off. In some ways, last week was filled with our pastors operating in crisis mode with endorphins creating an almost frenetic energy to get this all figured out. This week, many are clearly struggling from exhaustion, increased anxiety as to how long this will last and what will be the lasting effects for our churches. Zoom has become a lifeline for so many of our pastors. On Tuesday we offered a Zoom call for our pastors and had 46 join! I heard from many how encouraged they were to actually see each other and know that we’re in this thing together.

We are changing the format up for next week:

We will still be having the full group Zoom meeting at 2 pm CST on Tuesday.  This week will function in more of a webinar format. We will be having an expert share with us for about 20 minutes on the topic of “How to maximize live streaming without breaking the bank”.  I know you might think that this is last week’s news, but I think it will be important now that we’re all doing livestream, to evaluate our own livestreaming, and see how we might maximize our effectiveness in the weeks to come. The presentation will last 20 minutes, and I will be compiling questions you ask through the chat feature to ask our presenter after the presentation. The entire call will last about 45 minutes.

Instead of the breakout rooms that we offered last week, we are offering 6 different breakout opportunities throughout the week. You can jump in on any of these Zoom calls for an opportunity to encourage each other, share ideas and pray together. All times are central time zone.

 

This week, I have once again been so encouraged with all the great ideas coming from our Zoom calls, so here is a sampling of this week’s best ideas.

1.   There is not one “right” way to stream your service

Some churches are really enjoying the look of the pastor at the pulpit in the empty worship center while others are finding the more casual perspective of sitting on a couch in their home or office more effective. Some find keeping their format exactly like a normal Sunday works best and others find that the format has to change. Some do live worship and others record ahead of time.

Know Your Audience!

You have more visitors to your church online than you ever have in your building on a weekly basis. Make sure your style and format connects with these online visitors as well as your regular attenders.

Check your Facebook Live analytics. The average “attender” will stay on your stream for 25% of the total stream. If you get 50%, you are doing great. Make sure your format is conducive to keeping people watching. The longer they stay connected, the more good news they hear!  Consider that a plug for next Tuesday’s Zoom call at 2pm CST.

2.  Make sure you are landing the plane in regard to the Gospel

Eaglebrook church in Minnesota saw 450 people make first time commitments to Christ through their online service last week. Are you sharing the simple plan of salvation each week as part of your service, and as people respond to the gospel, how are you following up with them?

3.  Exhaustion is Setting In

Most pastors are exerting an incredible amount of energy to get all this figured out in their churches. There is and will be an exhaustion that will set in that many have not experienced before. This can lead to depression, anxiety and even physical health problems. On Tuesday, April 10 at 2pm, our Zoom call will be dealing with this very subject, so plan ahead.

4.  Be measured in your communication with people, specifically online

Be careful how much time you are watching the news and reading articles on Covid 19. Be careful what we choose to share from the myriad of opinions and thoughts coming out of the news and even by respected Christian leaders. It is clear that this virus is bad and has potentially long term affects to our culture. It is also true that we can and should communicate hope in the midst of this reality, so measure your words carefully. When is joking appropriate and when is it not? When is concern and warning warranted and when is it too much? etc.

We are NOT medical experts. Stick to our lane. In one county, a Zoom call was held with community, medical and pastoral leaders. The statement made by the health providers to pastors was that our people will listen to us before they listen to their doctor. That is astounding and should make us think very carefully about what we are communicating and the tone in which we do it.

5.  Who is our main responsibility pastorally?

The answer is that it is the same group that was our responsibility before this all happened. Never has Jesus’ reminder that we are a hospital for sick people been more appropriate. We need to continue to equip and unleash our people now more than ever to show the love of Christ so that we might see people transformed from spiritual death to life. A friend of mine sent me this quote (Sorry, I don’t know the author). “The spiritual crisis that church leaders are dealing with right now is not a crisis of streaming weekend services. The crisis that many churches are facing is that they have not adequately equipped men and women to lead the people in their homes and in their neighborhood.” May it not be so with us!

“Dear Lord, thank you for our pastors. Thank you that we can link arms as we seek to see the gospel transform our neighborhoods and cities. Grant our pastors sabbath rest, even in the midst of a season of incredible busyness. Protect their marriages. Give their families amazing times together that center on Christ. Holy Spirit, grant them messages to share each week that clearly remind them that it is you speaking through them, and not themselves. Be glorified Lord in these days and continue to build the church into the beacon of hope and light you created it to be. In Christ’s name, Amen.”

We love you all and stand ready to serve you during this time. 

MORE COVID-19 RESOURCES

Top Ideas from Week One of Coronavirus Quarantine

This week we began offering Zoom calls for our pastors to come together to share ideas, encourage one another and pray for each other. We have had at least six of these calls this week, many through our Together Groups, and I have been furiously writing all the amazing ideas I have heard. Each week I will share some of the best ideas so that we can all be encouraged. Along with the Together Group calls, we will also be offering a Pastor Zoom Call every Tuesday at 2pm CST for all of Converge MidAmerica. Just follow this link to join us: https://zoom.us/j/613566293

Online Streaming of Worship Had Significant Impact

One church of 25 had 290 views. Another church of 200 had 1300 views. A new church plant that has an existing online strategy, went from 75 regular views to 500.

Many of the anecdotal statistics is that our church members were inviting their friends to check out their services and they did!

Many streaming services and platforms are being used. Along with Facebook Live, services like Sling Studios, DaCast and LifeChurch were all mentioned.

The Way We Stream Our Services Is Already Shifting

Many are finding that using the worship team for music does not necessarily translate well online. Using a Spotify playlist, YouTube worship videos, or simply having one song to open in a more acoustic format seems to be as or more effective.

A live sermon from an empty worship center may not necessarily be the best format. Pre-recording your sermon and making it more relaxed from your office or other location and moving from a preaching style to a more teaching style is gaining some good traction.

We were all taught to think of our sermons not as a monologue, but a dialogue. Pastors are using that concept to actively engage with their people in their sermon. Assign someone to handle the comment section from their streaming to keep prayer and conversation going. One church had 200 engagement comments last Sunday and are going to encourage families to take selfies and post them in the comment section so that they can engage even better (and take attendance ☺).

Online Giving Is Not Nearly As Costly As Not Giving

Churches that have been practicing online giving are finding that their church’s giving has remained pretty stable. One church had their top donor begin to give electronically!

Pushpay, Tithely, Givelify, Paypal are just some of the companies to investigate. Each have similar cost structures and are easy to integrate.

Caring For Your People During the Quarantine Looks Different

Unleash your small group ministry to care for people in their groups and beyond. (This obviously needs to be carefully thought through).

Some churches are splitting up their congregation, calling it a “Care Network” and calling each family once a week to check on them and to pray.

Many churches are calling their local school districts, food pantries and government agencies to see how the church can help. They are seeing great receptivity.

One pastor is doing “Chipotle on the Porch”. He is inviting two to three men at a time do have Chipotle lunch with him on his porch.

Churches have set up a “help” page on their websites where people can connect with practical help. One example can be found on https://villagepoint.church/help

Other Great Ideas

Beginning Sunday, it will be 21 days until Easter. Using one of Converge MidAmerica’s 21 Day books, or other prayer tools like Seek God For the City are ways to focus your congregation’s prayer times.

Don’t forget that you can always have online prayer meetings!

Do a daily check-in (devotional) video with your church. This need not be over 4-5 minutes.

Use Zoom, Google Hangouts, Skype, etc. to bring your children and youth ministries together. Have your kids’ Sunday School or Awana leader do a Zoom call with their class. Tell me kids wouldn’t LOVE that!

Quotes From Week One

“When we pray for revival, are we really ready for what that means?”

“What if Easter ended up being on May 3?”
(We need to prepare for unprecedented numbers at our churches once the quarantine is lifted.)

“The church is not a building we go to, but a movement we are a part of.”

I believe we are being given by God an unprecedented opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus in these days. Don’t forget, we are the church, and we carry the only true hope of this world, the gospel of Jesus! Let’s pray that through the churches of Converge MidAmerica, the gospel will go out with increased power and fervency!

Hebrews 10:25 “Let us not forsake meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage each other, and all the more as we see the Day approaching.”

We love you all!

Bryan Moak

MORE COVID-19 RESOURCES

Projects for Churches in Spring 2020 (in response to COVID-19)

In light of the CDC’s recommendation that all gatherings of 50 people or more be canceled for the next 8 weeks, your church staff may have some free time on their hand. If this is the case, here are a few projects you could (and should) dedicate that extra time toward.

Make a website

Now is the time to make a website for your church. Churches shifting from analog to digital is no longer a trend but a necessity. Your church will not be able to gather in person for the next several weeks, and that’s okay! Here are a few resources for developing your church website:
  • The Church Co is designed to help churches create functional websites.
  • Squarespace is an easy do-it-yourself platform for building simple websites.
  • Fiverr and Upwork are great platforms for finding freelancers to help with your projects.

Online giving

For many in your congregation, not meeting weekly likely means not giving weekly. Take this opportunity to set up online giving and help your congregation learn a new culture of generosity. Here are a few resources for setting up online giving:

Rethink Congregational Care

If your church’s congregational care looks like home visits and nursing home trips, now is the time to reinvent this ministry. The people in our congregations who need our care the most are also the people who are vulnerable to COVID-19 and at risk of infection. Even if you seem healthy, coming into contact with at-risk members of your community puts them in danger of infection. Brainstorm new ways to care for your congregation over the next couple of months. Ask nursing homes if they have a video chat platform set up for residents. Teach elderly members of your congregation how to FaceTime. Schedule 90-minute phone calls instead of 45-minute visits. Get creative!

21 Days of Prayer Campaign

Now is a great time to start a 21 Days of Prayer campaign with your congregation. Not meeting weekly could feel isolating and lonely. Starting a church-wide prayer campaign will unify your congregation and ignite passion in the midst of an otherwise trying time. Read more: 21 Days of Prayer Resources. Let’s work together to reframe this pandemic as an opportunity to better reach our community. What problems are you ready to solve over the coming weeks?

Living Missionally in a Crisis

I have chosen to use Titus 3:1-2 as the guiding biblical principle for our churches as we face this unprecedented shut down of our country due to the dangerous spread of the coronavirus.

Paul writes, 

“Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.”

Here are some notes and observations that I hope will help you navigate this crisis from a biblical perspective.

How to Promote Missional Living in a Crisis – Titus 3:1-15

We need to Remind Churches of their Mission. vs. 1-2

Reminding the church of its purpose in the world is critical for church leaders.  Missional drift occurs quicker than we all realize.  Paul charges Titus to the hard work of developing a missional culture throughout the island of Crete.

Missional living starts out of a submissive spirit.

Submit. The word denotes that kind of submission which soldiers render to their officers. It implies “subordination;” a willingness to occupy our proper place, to yield to the authority of those over us. The word used here does not designate the “extent” of the submission, but merely enjoins it in general. The general principle will be seen to be, that we are to obey in all things which are not contrary to the Law of God (cf. Romans 13:1) (Barnes)

“Leaders who have trouble submitting to authority, will usually have trouble exercising spiritual authority.  This challenge occurs throughout their ministry, becoming more subtle as leaders mature.” (Clinton)

Missional living flows out of lives that seek to be a blessing.

Three times in this chapter times Paul calls the church to good works.

  1. “to be ready for every good work…” vs. 1
  2. “The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.”  vs. 8
  3. “And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful.” vs. 14
“Good Works”

 “The ‘good works’ here refer not merely to acts of benevolence and charity, but to all that is upright and good – to an honest and holy life.” (Barnes)

“The Christian must not adopt the arts of the agitator.” (Hiebert)

“So far Paul has been concerned with the internal arrangements of the Cretan churches and the duties of their members to one another. Now he comments briefly on their relationship to the civil power and their pagan environment generally. The point he makes is that they should be models of good citizenship precisely because the new, supernatural life of the Spirit bestowed by [Spirit] baptism finds expression in such an attitude.” (Kelly)

“People who are ever fighting are wretched citizens and neighbors; people who are willing to yield in gentleness are admirable, especially when they follow the gentle spirit of Jesus.” (Lenski)

Missional living builds rapport with the community.

“The question that comes to mind as one meditates on this passage is how can a leader like Titus actually bring about the notion of a Corporate testimony — Christians as a whole on the island of Crete. In this small island culture, Christianity would be branded and known and watched and evaluated by those in the culture. So the corporate nature is there. But how to motivate groups so that their corporate testimony depicts the wonderful character qualities — that is the challenge of leadership. Today in most western societies the challenge is even greater — how to get the sense of corporate Christianity and how to get a corporate testimony”. (Clinton)

The leader reminds, calls and exhorts the church to reflect the beauty of Christ and his message to the world.

We must motivate others towards mission through the centrality of the gospel. vs. 3-8

The gospel is not only the key motivational ingredient that calls us to living missionally but it also has a continued transformational effect on the church as it seeks to be a blessing in the world.

The church has been transformed by the gospel and is continually being transformed by the gospel.  This is what makes it missionally effective.

Centrality of the Gospel

“The gospel is not the most important message in history; it is the only essential message in all of history. Yet we allow thousands of professing Christians to live their entire lives without clearly understanding it and experience the joy of living their lives by it.” (Bridges)

“This is the whole point of the good news – God forming a people for His glory and the good of the world.” (Wax)

The leader calls the church to a deeper dependence on the gospel as it seeks to further the gospel throughout a known area.

We must deal with the distractions swiftly. vs. 9-11

Paul charges Titus strongly to deal with the distractions to the mission head on.  He knows how much emotional, mental and relational energy it takes to deal with difficult people.  Every moment spent in arguments are wasted moments in furthering the gospel.  

“I have learned that professed Christians who like to argue about the Bible are usually covering up some sin in their lives, are very insecure, and are usually unhappy at work or at home.” (Wiersbe)

Paul’s basic approach to confronting a heretical problem is twofold: 1) correct the damage of the heresy in the church by presenting the truth and/or modeling it; 2) confront the divisive person with the truth and give a chance for change. Give a reasonable time for the person to respond and make sure the person has understood (second time). If there is no positive response, then the person should be avoided by all in the church. The Amish and early Mennonites had a term for this — shunning. To be a part of a community and then to be ousted from it can have a powerful effect — maybe even redemptive.” (Clinton)

We must remind churches to treat the workers of the Gospel with generosity and care. vs. 12-15

Paul encourages Titus to teach the people of God how to treat workers of the gospel.  In these generous acts they are reminded that the mission is bigger than themselves and beyond their local concerns.   His encouragement to devote themselves to good works drives home the idea of being a blessing to their family, to the community and to the spread of the gospel.

“Two positive benefits of leading productive Christian lives are: 1) Christians provide for the necessities of life in their own setting and are not a drain on society; 2) there is the availability of resources to support the advancement of Christian work elsewhere. Paul is certainly implying that here. Productive lives involve support of God’s work in the world.” (Clinton)

Reflective Questions:

  1. How are we protecting the church from missional drift? Local, Regional and International?
  2. What are some of the ways a church can drift missionally?
  3. What are some of the root causes for missional drift?
  4. How are we being a blessing to our society?
  5. How can we protect the church from drifting into practicing only a social gospel?
  6. What or who are distracting your church from the mission of God?
  7. How is your dependence on the gospel helping your church further the gospel in your region?
  8. What percentage of the church’s resources are used in blessing workers of the gospel?
  9. Where do you see church planting in Paul’s letter to Titus?
  10. How do we use our mission support to reinforce a missional lifestyle?

How Your Church Can Leverage Social Media in light of COVID-19

With the unprecedented state of our country right now, many churches are navigating the transition to online church. Whether your church has been streaming Sunday services for months now or you’ve never considered it until yesterday, this can be an intimidating time for your church leadership. Here are a few ways your church can leverage social media to reach your congregation.

Stream Sunday Services from Home

The CDC has recommended that all gatherings of 50 or more people be canceled for the next 8 weeks. This likely means your church will be canceling Sunday gatherings for the next 8 weeks, along with any other gatherings your church may hold. While you may see this as discouraging, it is in fact an incredible opportunity for your church to find new ways to meet people where they are. And right now, where they are is at home.

Don’t feel the pressure to keep on having church as usual and stream a professional-quality service. People will likely be at home on the couch in their pajamas participating in online church services. Embrace this fact! Have your pastor preach in pajamas. Show your worship leader’s kids running around the living room. Make your online service as informal as your congregation.

Here are a few free resources for streaming Sunday services:
  • Facebook Live – Go live from your church’s page or your pastor’s profile using your smartphone. Read: How To Go Live on Facebook
  • OBS – Go live on Facebook with a multicam setup using OBS. (Note: this is not recommended for churches with no live stream experience.) Listen: How to Setup OBS for Facebook Live Streams.
  • Instagram Live – Instagram lets you add another user when you go live. This is a great feature if your pastor and worship leader are in different physical locations; one can go live from his or her own device and then invite the other to join the stream. Read: How to Go Live with a Friend on Instagram.
  • Facebook Watch Party – With Facebook’s Watch Party feature, you can pre-record your service and start a watch party for your congregation to tune in together at a designated time. Read: How To Host a Watch Party.
 
A few things to consider when streaming Sunday services:
  • It’s not all about the video. Make sure your staff and leadership are online and ready to moderate and respond to comments during the stream. This is how your congregation will feel connected in an otherwise impersonal situation.
  • Keep it simple. If you’ve never done an online service before, stick to Facebook or Instagram live. There’s no need to pay for a live stream service; prioritize relationship over professionalism.
  • Read More: Why Live Streaming is not the Full Answer.

 

Start Google Hangouts instead of Home Groups

Your church may also be considering canceling any home groups for the next 8 weeks. Don’t let this be discouraging! Use this as an opportunity to reinvent home groups for your congregation. Consider meeting via video chat or conference call, instead.

Google Hangouts is a great resource for this because it is free and simple to set up. You can start a hangout with video call, phone call, or messages. Read: How To Start a Google Hangout.

 

Host Prayer Meetings via Facebook

Consider making a Facebook post weekly or daily asking your congregation to pray for one another. Encourage people to post prayer requests in the comments, and to type out their prayers for other congregation members. This is a great way to teach your congregation that prayer is communal and accessible.

Practical tips for starting a Facebook post prayer chain:
  • Respond to every comment. Yes, every single one! Thank them for their prayer request, write out a prayer for them, and encourage them to reach out if they need more prayer. Asking for prayer puts people in a strange, vulnerable state, so be sure to honor their request by acknowledging and caring for them.
  • Open up about your own prayer requests. Show your congregation that your Facebook post is a safe place to ask for prayer; so safe that even you are asking!
  • Make your post private. This protects the privacy of everyone participating. You may also need to take some time to add your congregation members as friends on Facebook; this is a great opportunity to do so!  Read: How to Change Privacy Settings for a Facebook Post.
  • Offer an alternate channel for those who desire more privacy. Some people may not feel comfortable posting their prayer requests in your comments. Be sure to make it known that anyone can message you privately if they would prefer. And again, respond to every message with gratitude and prayer!

 

Start a Group Message or Facebook Group for Your Community.

Now is a great time for your church to start a Facebook Group for your congregation to communicate with one another. Facebook Groups are a great way to get conversations started online that are searchable and accessible. Groups also allow users to set their notification settings so they are more likely to see what is posted in the group. 

Here are a few conversation-starters to post in your Facebook group(s) this week:
  • What are you anxious about? How can we pray for you today? 
  • What needs do you have that our church family can meet? Are you running low on any essentials? 
  • How is your family coping with the uprooted routine? 
  • What is your “new normal?” 
  • Who in your community are you praying for today? What friend/neighbor/coworker/acquaintance needs a little extra love? 
Resources for Facebook Groups:

 

People at home = People on Facebook. Post more.

If you have developed a plan for what and when to post to social media, now is the time to throw that plan out the window. The state of our world is completely different today than it was a week ago, so our churches’ social media presence needs to be different, too.

People in your congregation will be on social media even more over the next 8 weeks. Business will be slower, people will be working from home or not working at all, and the lack of physical connection with others in the midst of social distancing will drive people to seek online connection more and more. So meet people where they are!

Consider posting 2-3 times per day. Post content related to COVID-19 as well as content not related at all. Share posts from other churches that your congregation may appreciate. Take the time you would have used planning in-person events to instead plan online content to share with your congregation.

Resources for what to post:


Share relevant information without creating anxiety.

As your church takes to the web over the next 8 weeks, do not feel the pressure to be your congregation’s sole source of COVID-19 information. Direct people to reputable sources for information. Instead of sharing a step-by-step guide to keeping the virus from spreading, share a word of encouragement to your community in this season of anxiety. Use your social media platform to ask questions and open dialogue around what concerns your community has. And don’t be afraid of changing the subject every now and then; not every post you make needs to be focused on COVID-19.

What else?

As we enter into this unprecedented season, what questions do you have about your church’s social media presence? What steps will you be taking this week to better connect with your congregation online? What concerns do you have about this analog to digital transition? How can we help you make this transition as smoothly as possible?

The Unprecedented Circumstances of COVID-19

Dear Converge MidAmerica Pastors and Church Leaders,

“Unprecedented” is the word that is often heard regarding the COVID-19 virus pandemic that is globally affecting all of our lives.

It is at unprecedented times like these that we need to heed God’s word on how we, as God’s people are to respond. Paul’s words to Titus I believe are very timely.

“Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone” (Titus 3:1-2).

As leaders, we are living through a unique event in history that requires clear and patient pastoral leadership. The purpose of this letter is to give encouragement and to share resources that can assist you in leading your congregations throughout the pandemic. During this unprecedented season, let’s practice the following:

GLEAN FROM OTHERS:

If you have not yet read Converge President Scott Ridout’s letter to all Converge churches then I would advise you to do so. In it, he references some Converge Northwest District church responses that may be helpful in addressing your congregation. Many godly people, beyond our churches, have also been seeking the Lord’s guidance in the face of the Coronavirus pandemic and our congregations can benefit from their efforts. Here are some of those resources.


SHOW RESPECT TO CIVIL LEADERS:

Please walk in solidarity with your local and state officials and do your best to align your church leadership and communication with their formal recommendations. Among the wide variety of responses that we are experiencing, a clear pattern of increasingly collaborative, proactive and preventative care measures is emerging at local, state, and federal government levels. This is a time to be praying for our elected officials, their appointees, and their staff to have great wisdom in the execution of their civil leadership responsibilities and communication. Here is the Federal Government website also check your state, county and city website for updates because this situation is very fluid.

COMMUNICATE WELL:

Please communicate well with your congregation. You and your leadership may unexpectedly find yourselves cancelling activities and services. If you are to do this please make sure that you are communicating through email, texting, phone calls and personal conversations to ensure your congregation is getting the message. Please take special care to connect with the homebound and elderly in your congregation. Here are three COVID-19 communication examples from Heartland Church in Fishers, IN; Chapelstreet Church, Geneva, IL and Immanuel Church in Gurnee, IL

LEVERAGE ONLINE ACCESSIBILITY:

If people are discouraged from public gatherings or if you must cancel your services, how will you continue to shepherd the flock and how will people worship through tithes and offerings? Do you livestream or record your church services? How easy is your online giving access? Now is the time to make sure that your congregation is aware of where and how to find your online messages and giving options. If you do not know how to set up a livestream of your sermons or how to set up online giving then here are some tutorials for low-cost solutions.


Please do not hesitate to contact me or the Converge MidAmerica Office staff with any questions or for any assistance.

Finally, one of our Converge MidAmerica Pastors Adam Groh of Berkley Community Church, Berkley, MI posted a section of Martin Luther’s letter to a fellow pastor in how he approached the spread of The Black Death plague.  Luther’s wise words can help inform the way we approach things happening in our world right now.

“I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine, and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated, and thus perchance inflict and pollute others and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me, and I have done what he has expected of me, and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me, however, I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely, as stated above. See, this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash, no foolhardy, and does not tempt God.”

Thank you for your partnership and prayers,

Gary Rohrmayer
President
Converge MidAmerica

Tornado affects 4 Tennessee Counties

As Tennessee joins together to recover from Tuesday’s tornado, Converge MidAmerica is seeking to empathize with and aid our district churches who were affected. 

Preston Sharpe, pastor at Sacrament Church in Nashville, TN, helps us understand the affects of the tornado on Nashville and surrounding areas. 

Sumant Joshi helps clean up rubble at the East End United Methodist Church, March 3.
Mark Humphrey / AP

Our Context

Our church is in Downtown Nashville.

Early Tuesday morning, an EF-3 tornado with winds up to 165 mph tore across the Nashville area, killing two people in East Nashville.

North Nashville, Hermitage, The Five Points area of East Nashville and other parts of those neighborhoods were hit hard. Many of the popular restaurants, bars, and music venues were affected drastically or are just gone.

My family and I used to live in East Nashville, and it is so weird to see so many of the places where we walked in the early days of our church plant just completely destroyed. In Germantown, there are trees and powerlines down making it nearly impossible to get around. But tornadoes are weird in that they hit so directly. Some people in Germantown and East Nashville lost their homes; others were barely impacted.

Tens of thousands of residents are currently grappling with the lack of electricity and utilities.

Putnam County

The hardest-hit area was in Putnam County, where the town of Cookeville is located (two hours east of Nashville). At least 18 were killed, five of them children under 13. There are over 20 people missing in Putnam county, including small children.

Many of the schools are closed due to damage or lack of power. Many churches were also damaged.

State of the City

Nashville was the victim of major tornadoes in 1933 and 1998 and a flood in 2010, all of which devastated the city and hit some of the same areas.

Right now, everybody feels super vulnerable. This is particularly true for those who have experienced loss, but everyone feels really raw right now. However, Nashville (and all of Middle Tennessee) does have a lot of civic pride and there are a lot of helpers. We are hearing some wonderful stories of people feeling embraced by their community. So many people have jumped in immediately to make a difference. We are trusting for healing and restoration for our city and our region.

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