| Creative Thoughts for Worshipping at Home Hello, Friends – As we continue in this path of staying home to stay safe (for ourselves and others), take a look at the ideas, below, for enriching your at-home worship experiences. I hope that you will engage some of these ideas, or other ideas of your own, in order to enhance your Sunday morning worship services. We will continue to worship together and meet for other gatherings (committee meetings, BELIEVE study groups, other groups who meet at Cedarville). You can continue to access our Sunday morning worship services by going to our Cedarville’s FaceBook page or going to our website at www.cedarvilleumc.org and clicking on the link on the website. For other gatherings, we are using Zoom Video conferencing. If you lead a Cedarville group that you would like to connect with for conversation and prayer using the church’s Zoom account, please let me know and I can work with you to set up a meeting. I hope that these ideas bless your at-home worship experience! Praying for you in these days. Pastor Sherry |
CREATIVE THOUGHTS ABOUT WORSHIPPING AT HOME DURING THIS TIME
For many United Methodists throughout the world who are dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, weekly worship services are happening around a computer screen instead of inside a church building. But how do you become more than simply a viewer watching a screen? Check out these tips for engaging with your online church community.
1. Create a sacred space.
Light a candle. Use a purple place mat to symbolize the Lenten season. For this Sunday (Palm Sunday), put a leaf or something symbolic of a palm branch. Place a cross in the center of the table. Open your Bible. If you have a hymnal, get it out.
“Having a space that feels like this area where you are worshipping is something different helps with feeling centered,” says the Rev. Barbara Dunlap, associate minister of discipleship and outreach at First UMC in Hurst, Texas. “Whatever you notice when you’re in the sanctuary [or the FLC], see if you can create that in your own space.”
2. Say “Hello.”
Greeting fellow worshipers is a routine part of attending church. Do the same online. Engage through the chat functions, such as the comment box on Facebook Live or the chat box on YouTube or Livestream. As you see friends join the service, say “hi.”
“Greeting one another through chat is important so that you see that you’re not by yourself,” Dunlap says. “There’s a sense of knowing that people are worshiping with you and you are still connected.”
3. Don’t just sit there.
Stand up. When you’re singing a hymn or praise song, get out of your seat.
“We encourage people to stand and sing with us from their homes,” states the Rev. Donna Pritchard, senior pastor at First UMC of Portland, Oregon. “When we do the passing of the peace, we ask people to make the sign of the cross on their own bodies.” The familiarity of the routine is another way to feel connected, she suggests.
4. Come closer, please.
This is one setting where physical distancing does not apply. In keeping with the theme of seeking to feel connected, sitting closer to the online activity on the screen helps, Dunlap says.
5. Sing louder.
Sing the songs. Pray The Lord’s Prayer.
“If you’re comfortable singing the songs out loud, do that,” Dunlap says. “Or say The Lord’s Prayer along with the church leader. How many people around the world are saying The Lord’s Prayer? Thinking about this makes you feel less alone and less small, because you’re part of a whole.”
6. Let us pray.
Share your prayer requests, both joys and concerns, by sending the information via email to Elaine Lambert at CatchAcat2@aol.com or Sheila Hardin at TUCKERSFAMILY@aol.com.
“Tell us what’s going on,” Dunlap encourages. “We still want the prayer joys and concerns.”
7. Let us know you are worshipping with us.
Just because there is no formal attendance registration process doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t let your church know that you’re in worship. Register your attendance by engaging with the comments/chat boxes or by “liking” the social media post.
“Don’t be afraid to reach out. Leaders want to know that you’re there, but they also want to know if you aren’t,” Dunlap points out.
8. Say “cheese!”
Consider sharing photos of how you and/or your family are worshiping together at home and share and/or tag them to your church’s social media accounts, such as Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, to create a sense of community.
9. Sit with the folks you normally do.
Consider worshiping together through Zoom, chat rooms or private Facebook groups with your Sunday School class, small group or families and friends that you sit near at church, Dunlap suggests. In her church, there are groups that meet virtually for coffee or breakfast together– from your own homes, of course – and then watch the worship service together through an online service.
10. Say “thank you.”
“When people tune in, they are so grateful to have the chance to connect even though we aren’t physically together,” says the Rev. Stephanie Dodge, lead pastor at Glendale UMC in Nashville, Tennessee. “Expressing gratitude with your online community is another way that people can participate in worship.”
*Crystal Caviness works for UMC.org at United Methodist Communications. Contact her by email or at 615-742-5138.
This story was published March 26, 2020.