Reflection: Coming Out Of course, I’m talking here about “coming out of isolation”, not the modern context of “coming out of the closet”. The State and Federal governments have, in the past few weeks set us a roadmap for coming out of our period of COVID-19 lockdown. Whilst a return to “normality” isn’t going to happen overnight, we do have hope that God has protected us from the worst that this pandemic can throw at us. A very quick and effective response by our leaders in early March saw Australia in a much better position than most of the rest of the world. "For the foresight and fast reactions by our medical experts and politicians", we give thanks to God. Yes, many of us have found this time away from our usual friends and family very hard and tiring, but has this time in relative isolation been all bad? For example, how many books have you managed to read over the last few months? Have your computer skills increased, or at least you feel more comfortable using the equipment now? I know that many of us have learned new skills during this time and plan to keep them going once we’re allowed more freedoms to congregate safely. Our Church Council and Presbytery are looking at the activities that we’ve been doing (pre-COVID-19) but may not wish to continue into the future, or – more excitingly – things that we HAVEN’T been doing but would like to commence. Now, whilst acknowledging that your Church Council is made up of some very wise and dedicated people, we realise that there is EVEN MORE wisdom out there in congregation-land, so we’re going to be circulating a questionnaire in the near future, asking your thoughts on where we should be focussing our efforts once we get back to a time of worshipping together, and meeting together, in person. Will our services of worship look and feel exactly the same as they did before the lockdown? I don’t believe that they will. There are sure to be ways that we can make them a more meaningful experience.Some of you may have had the time to be exposed to varying forms of televised worship during the time you haven’t able to attend our regular service in person. Chances are that there were parts of those services that were particularly meaningful or moving for you. Would you like us to further explore these elements of worship so we may be able to do things differently at Lane Cove in the future? Many of the services from other churches have been videotaped, or even videoed and streamed live onto computers, but the resources required to achieve that level of sophistication at Lane Cove are not currently available. We should pray that, if that is the direction we are destining to go, that God will make the resources, both human and equipment, available to us. Prayer can achieve many things and we should not just sit back and tell ourselves that it is beyond our capabilities. It probably is, with our current levels of expertise. but if God wants us to do it, all things are possible. Some of us have been participating in a bible study on prayer over the last few months. It has opened up questions of what led certain characters of the bible to pray and what forms their prayers took? We’ll be continuing these bible studies in the future, using the power of the computer to meet together without even having to leave our homes on these cold, dark and wet nights. Our next topic is going to be “Miracles: and some might even say that it’s a modern-day miracle that we can meet this way. But back to the main theme. Some of you may be asking “When will the church reopen?” and I guess the simple answer is “When we are able to provide a safe environment or all users.” But that is not available now. Whilst government health regulations are being eased week by week, the church still has an issue with the risk to our most valuable assets – our people.There is still a very real risk that viruses may be brought into our building – possibly unknowingly – and that our more vulnerable members may become infected. That is not something that any caring, loving church would want to happen.We all long for the time when we can get back to some form of normality, but at the moment, a Sunday morning with limited numbers of participants, no singing, people sitting 1.5 metres apart, no physical greetings and no time of fellowship over morning tea, doesn’t sound too appealing to many of us. We ask you to be patient for a little while longer and, when it’s the right time, we’ll come back together in joyous worship of our great Lord and Saviour.Until then, I’ll continue these written reflections and encourage you to look further afield for expressions of televised worship services.Take note of what you believe works well and, also, what doesn’t appeal to you and, when you get time to fill out our survey, you’ll be able to suggest where you’d like worship at Lane Cove Uniting Church to head to. PRAYER Holy God, who knows us by name, who restores the troubled soul and keeps us firm in faith, help us to be fully aware of your presence here with us now. Grant us a clear vision of all we are called to be and all that you want us to do in your kingdom. In the name of Christ Jesus, we pray. Amen. I look forward to seeing you soon Pastor Rick
1 Comment
Gaye
20/6/2020 08:56:14 am
Thanks for this message Rick.
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