Churches might be locked down during the COVID-19 crisis, as people are not permitted to gather in groups of over 10 people, but local churches are finding ways to keep in touch with their congregations. Yorkton This Week spoke to Rev. Jen Dresser from St. Andrews United Church and Pastor Des Klingspon with Prairie Harvest Christian Life Centre about how they’re using technology to keep connected.
St. Andrews is using the Zoom video conferencing service to handle their Sunday service. Each Sunday the service starts at 10:30 a.m., but people can connect and call in starting at 10:00 a.m. Dresser said that they chose Zoom for their services because of one feature, the ability to use it strictly via phone. She said that there are people who don’t have the ability to use a computer, so they wanted to stay available to them through the phone system.
“I think some of our people who are most isolated and who live home alone are the ones who wouldn’t have access to [a computer]. It really allows lots of different people to participate.”
One advantage for Zoom is that people can connect, talk to each other, see their faces and keep in touch, Dresser explained.
“They can say yes, we’re here, we’re well and healthy and safe. It’s been really great to have that connecting time. Share what’s going on with people and still get that sense of community, which I feel is really important.”
Prairie Harvest uses Facebook Live for their masses, also starting at 10:30 a.m. Facebook was picked for two reasons, reach and cost, explained Klingspon. They were able to reach more people, and they would otherwise not have the server space doing this on a personal website. The masses are pre-recorded and aired, with music, updates and a message.
“We do almost everything we were doing before, we’re offering it online on Sunday morning.”
The need for an alternate way of reaching the congregation was especially urgent for Klingspon, as he was under quarantine for 14 days due to a trip to Mexico with his wife, Cheryl.
“It was quite a bit of a curve, and having to preach to a camera in our dining room was a little unusual too. But we’ve been rolling with it, our whole team has.”
There is a learning curve with the technology, and both have had hiccups getting everything working as it should. Part of the issue is that beyond learning how to use it themselves, they also need to support people who want to take part but are unfamiliar with the tech.
“People are certainly willing to try it,” Dresser said.
Klingspon said that for them, the most nerve-racking part was their first service, when they didn’t even know if the files had uploaded correctly before it was scheduled to go live.
“They were getting notices that the link had expired, and we thought that it might have just all disappeared five minutes before it was set to air… We’ve got some good people who are here figuring it out.”
One thing both have noticed is that it has brought people to church who haven’t been in a long time, whether due to distance or mobility issues. Dresser said their first week they also had a digital tourist from Manitoba, who was going from coast to coast checking out different United Church services online. Klingspon said they have been seeing more people online than they would have had at church on an average Sunday.
“We have a lot of people coming in and checking out part of the service, or the whole service, throughout Sunday, Monday and the rest of the week now,” said Klingspon.
But church is beyond just the Sunday services, it’s a community, and things like bible study and programming for children has been arranged by both churches.
Dresser said that with the kids home from school, they wanted to give parents a break from the kids, but also have an opportunity to check in with their families, see how things are going, and how they’re coping.
“Just know how people are and that sense of building relationships even when we’re not in the same place.”
Klingspon said that the kids are enjoying having programming for them through the church, which has included things like puppet skits as people get creative to help families.
Both are considering how to continue staying online after it’s safe to operate normally. Dresser said that they’re looking at how they can keep doing it for the sake of people who can’t come to church physically. Klingspon said they’re having conversations about how they’re going to maintain an online presence, and they are also praying for the community on Wednesday evenings, live on Facebook, and encouraging others to pray as well, so that the world can get through the crisis.
Both agree that in a time of crisis, they want to be there to help people navigate through the pandemic.
“When you turn the news on the TV, you get no shortage of bad news, of discouragement, of all the things that are going wrong. We really feel that for churches… We’re here to be light and hope and help. We want to offer comfort, encouragement and hope even when nobody knows how this is going to take its course. But we have a faith that’s unshakable that we believe our future’s in God’s hands and we can trust Him. We believe that when people have a little bit of hope it goes a long way,” said Klingspon.
“I think it’s really important for people to still be connected and have that sense of community. As a church, I think it’s important for us to be able to listen to one another, to be able to pray together, to listen to scripture together, and give a sense of stopping and reflecting on where we are, where we are spiritually in this time and be able to have a sense of where our faith is in the midst of all this. I think it’s a difficult time for a lot of people and people are very afraid right now, and anxious. There is a lot of change and upheaval. To have a space to put that in context with our faith is really important for many people,” said Dresser.
Prairie Harvest is at www.facebook.com/prairieharvestclc and St. Andrews is at standrewsyorkton.ca/. Online services are also offered at Westview United Church (http://www.westviewuc.ca/), at the Salvation Army (https://www.facebook.com/sayorkton/), Heritage Baptist Church (http://hbcyorkton.ca/), Yorkton Alliance Church (https://www.yorktonalliance.org/), Parkland Community Church (http://pcchurch.ca/) and Yorkton Family Worship Centre (https://www.yorktonfwc.ca/sunday-services.html). St. Gerard's Roman Catholic Parish (https://www.stgerard.ca/) will host streams from Resurrection Parish in Regina.
