God at Work in our Churches in the midst of COVID-19

Let’s celebrate together the ways that God is at work in our churches! Check out these awesome stories from Converge MidAmerica churches.

Chicago Delivers

Chicago Delivers is a partnership of local churches (including our very own Compassion Baptist Church) working together to provide food delivery and encourage vital social distancing in lower-income, at-risk neighborhoods of Chicago during the COVID-19 pandemic.

New Community Church, Dolton, Illinois

At New Community Church the vision is to have a passion connection with God, one another, and the community. Currently the church has a partnership with several community organizations, and because of our work in the community we received a call that a local business would like to donate $25,000 in order to assist with healthy Meals and Mask.

Redemption Bible Church, Mount Prospect, Illinois

Pastor Ashley Herr said his team knew they weren’t emotionally prepared to lead an exciting, energy-filled worship service like a normal year. Instead, the church focused on The Hope of Holy Week, starting with peace as The Hope of Palm Sunday.

Then each afternoon, the church hosted an interactive service of shared reading and prayer over Zoom, concluding with its Good Friday service. Sunday’s theme was the hope of life and freedom we find at the empty tomb in The Hope of Easter.

Herr said the church spent much of the week talking about how we are all grieving the loss of various things and stressing how we should acknowledge and talk about those emotions rather than hide them.

Grace River Church, St. Peters, Missouri       

Six people texted that they said yes to Jesus during Grace River’s online Easter services, and the church had its highest online attendance ever.

“We are connecting with an atheist, a universalist, former Jehovah’s Witnesses and so many more people than ever before,” lead pastor Chris Highfill said. “We feel that the COVID-19 crisis has given our church for more influence in our community than ever.”

Grace River is also meeting needs in its community. So far, the church has helped 30 people with food and other items.

Heartland Church,  Indianapolis, Indiana

Heartland Church and 16 other Indiana churches have partnered to purchase 200,000 N95 masks for hospitals, first responders and long-term care facilities in Indianapolis.

“We love our medical community and thank them for their tireless service in this crisis,” Heartland pastor Darryn Scheske said. “Because of the giving of people at Heartland Church, we were able to step up immediately and provide $50,000 to fund these needed masks.

“I think that now is the greatest opportunity for us to be the ‘big C’ church. We all sit in different buildings, but now we’re all at home. There’s a chance for us all to come together and do something compassionate.”

We want to hear from you!

Have a story to share? Let us know!

Hacks for Improving your Online Services

Maybe you’ve been hosting online services for ages now, or maybe (like many others) you’ve been forced into online church by COVID-19 restrictions. Either way, we want to help you create the best online church services you can. That’s why we put together this list of hacks for improving your online services. 

Keep to a routine.

Continuity communicates stability. Find elements that can stay the same every week, and make those elements the best they can be. In this time of uncertainty, people are craving consistency. If your in-person services included the Lord’s Prayer every week, keep including the Lord’s Prayer! Help give your congregation the stability they’re craving.

Aim for simple excellence.

Keep things as simple as possible so that the end product is excellent. Here are a few ideas to bring simple excellence to your services:

  • Create a graphic that appears before and after every service. This could be your church’s logo, a welcome slide, or a short countdown. Keeping this element the same every week adds a level of professionalism, and it’s easy for your staff to incorporate.
  • There are two options for online services: live and prerecorded. Both are great! Choose the option your team can accomplish best.
  • Don’t break the bank on new equipment. Your personal iPhone is simple and can record excellent footage.
  • Film in a place with great natural lighting, like near a window. Natural lighting always looks better on camera.

Post to multiple platforms.

You’ve done the hard work to create an excellent service; post it Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Vimeo, and anywhere else that will reach your congregation. If you’re posting a premier or livesteam, be sure to have pastors and/or volunteers manage the chats live so that you can welcome new people and create community.

Make it shorter.

Attention spans for online services are much shorter, so your service elements should be shorter too. A 5-minute pre-service countdown might make sense in person, but 5 minutes watching from home is more than enough time for people to get distracted and navigate away from your page. Your congregation may love 45 minutes of worship music at the beginning of service in person, but they likely won’t have the attention span for it at home.

Ask for help.

Reach out to other churches for help! Even if you think you don’t need help, you never know what ideas other churches have that would be great for your congregation. If there’s a church whose online services inspire you, reach out to them and ask for advice. We are better together!

Be you.

Most importantly, don’t try to be something you are not. Create online services that are true to the culture of your church. Do what you can, not what everyone else is doing.

Churches, we’re praying for you, and we’re here to help in any way we can.