What I Learned and Wished I Knew!
There is no denying it, the world in which we live has changed. Terms like “social distancing” and “quarantine” have become part of our everyday vernacular. Wearing masks has become a common practice in almost every public location. Our world is different, and these circumstances have not been seen in our lifetime. Trying to navigate how and when to have church services is a question we are all asking, especially when it comes to children. Here is my experience with opening our Children’s Ministry only to have to shut it down again.
First, a little background of the church I serve in. Our church is located in a very rural community. Hayfields and the smell of livestock abound. We are not a small church by any means, but definitely not what one would consider a “mega-church”. On a typical Sunday (pre-COVID) we would have a Sunday School hour followed by worship in the main sanctuary. We offer kids worship during this time as well as an optional service. Our Sunday evenings consist of a Bible study for adults and kids choir programs for children. We also have midweek activities. In the summer we typically have 300-400 kids attend our Vacation Bible School and take around 40 kids to summer camp.
Let’s rewind to the spring of 2020. I was gearing up for another exciting summer when the news hit. As you may recall, we were all asked to social distance, and groups of 10 or more were strongly discouraged. Our church took the stance most did and decided we would go to online services only during this time. This was not ideal but went very well for some time.
We slowly started opening things back up as the weeks went on and the restrictions lifted. We started by encouraging people to watch from home but opened the worship center for anyone who would like to attend in person. As our congregation became more comfortable we added childcare for the service. I would say we were one of the first, in our area at least, to open our services back up. However, VBS was postponed and our typical summer camp was canceled. We were able to find an alternate campground and held our own summer camp and VBS was severely altered (more on that later).
As the summer progressed we eventually added back our Sunday School hour and kids worship time with some precautions. We installed hand sanitizer stations throughout our entire building and had to turn off all of our water fountains. We spread the chairs out in the kids’ worship room and gave each child their own set of supplies to use for the day. We stopped serving food unless it was pre-packaged and emphasized hand washing. We sanitized things more frequently and eliminated community areas such as check-in stations (we had one person do all of the check-ins). We even bought forehead thermometers and checked every single person that entered our building. Our offering plates became stands in the back of the room and every other pew was blocked off in the worship center.
Things were going great and more and more families were beginning to come back! However, this all changed one Sunday in early fall. Everything ran smoothly that day, but at lunch, I was notified that one of our church members had tested positive for the virus. Over the next several days we were made aware of more and more church members coming down with Covid-19. There was not a huge amount of cases, less than 20, but it was enough for us to sound the alarm. For the next 3 weeks, we went back to online services only in an attempt to stop the spread.
I learned a lot in this experience and there were somethings we did right and good and other things I wished I would have handled a little bit differently.
1. Take Precautions Seriously
Our pastor gave us some wise advice in one of our staff meetings this year. He said, “For someone like me who is not worried about the virus, these precautions are an inconvenience. However, for someone who is concerned, it is a matter of life and death.” No matter how you feel about this virus and all the disruptions it has caused, take the recommended precautions seriously. In my situation, not a single positive case was a child! That is a huge relief and although one can not say for certain that it was due to our new policies and procedures, they certainly didn’t hurt!
2. Communication Is Key
We all know this and this is certainly not a new or groundbreaking statement but is one that can easily be forgotten. Personally, I often get caught up in all the details and execution, that I forget to relay important information to workers and parents. Signage, emails, bulletins, announcements, even videos are all great ways to let others know what precautions you are taking. Keep your workers and volunteers informed as well. It is also a good idea to let others know the “why” behind the procedures.
3. Know The Details
This is something I wish someone had communicated to me. I had to make a phone call to a parent letting them know that one of their child’s teachers had tested positive for the virus. This teacher did not have any symptoms while at church and symptoms did not come on until a few days after they were at church but we felt notification was important. I made the call and the parent was immediately concerned and anxious. She had numerous questions that I did not have the answer to which did not help ease her mind. In fact, she called our executive pastor and was so unnerved by what I didn’t know at the time that she didn’t hear what I did say correctly. I was able to find out the information she was looking for but had I had it before I talked to her, then maybe the situation would have been different.
4. Don’t Forget To Remember
Everyone has different life circumstances and things that they are dealing with on a personal level. Some of them are still not able to leave their house! Don’t forget to remember them. Something as simple as a text or phone call to let them know you are thinking about them can go a long way. If they have children consider setting up an online call where you can see them and they can see you. Maybe even have a couple of other kids with you (get parents permission first). Also, remember safety protocols such as having the parent or another adult in the meeting with you! It is also a good idea to frequently check on anyone you know of that may be quarantined.
5. Don’t Limit God
As I stated above, our VBS was severely altered this year. We didn’t want to completely cancel it but we knew there was no way for us to host a traditional one this year. We ultimately decided to host it over a series of Wednesday nights. Our numbers were not even close to our normal 400 kids…in fact, we barely had 40. It was weird and I felt awkward leading it. However, we forged ahead. As a result, we had 2 families join our church because their children had a great time at our weird, awkward VBS. We also had the largest kid 101 class (a class kids take when they accept Christ) we have ever had! I tell you all this not to brag but to just say God is still working and we need to stay faithful!
6. Look To The Future
I am not one who shies away from change. In fact, I embrace it! How can you know if something else will work or not unless you try it? However, there are sometimes I despise change. There is something to be said for the old adage “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. There is no doubt that this pandemic has forced most of us to change the way we do things. Treat this as a blessing. Be reminded that God is working and the Bible tells us that the church is His and even compares it to his bride! He will take care of it and use things to bring about His glory. We must stay faithful and look toward the future and be willing to allow His plan to take shape!
At the time of writing this article, Covid-19 is still very much a real thing and has yet to be dealt with. However, I am confident that no matter what the outcome God’s kingdom will be multiplied!
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Worship Photo by Anna Earl on Unsplash
