Midweek Message: "Congregational Survey Results"

Week of Christ the King 2020

Dear Friends in Christ:

Thanks to all who responded to our recent survey concerning our life together as a congregation during this difficult time of the pandemic. Paul Bastuscheck, who faithfully oversees our Constant Contact communications efforts, has helpfully summarized the results of this survey to members of the congregation. His overview is as follows:

“A survey was administered to RELC Members by email on November 1 and they were given one week to respond. There were 44 total respondents. Overall participants felt that RELC was doing a good job adapting to a virtual worship-at-home format. What they said they missed the most was social interaction of in-person worship and a sense of community. People indicated that they wanted more connections with fellow members with virtual coffee hours, and introducing more Zoom groups to attend. Respondents also indicted they wanted more outdoor, socially distanced worship, communion and ways to meet in-person with Pastor Linman and other members. When asked, 55% of members said they would be willing to return to indoor worship with safety precautions. 68% of members also indicated that they would not be interested in a virtual 5K run for Thanksgiving.

Members generally gave Pastor Linman good reviews and appreciated the way he has guided the church during the past 8-months. Many also indicated that they wanted more in-person outreach to get to know the pastor better. Ideas included Virtual Zoom meetings, phone calls, in-person socially distanced meetings using the front porch of the parsonage, walks in the neighbourhood and Pastor led classes in appropriate formats.”

I am glad for this helpful overview and summary even as I am thankful for the particular comments of individual respondents. These responses both in summary and in particular will guide my own discernment about how we can undertake life together in Christ in the coming weeks and months. Some very good ideas were offered in the responses, even as the survey results will also serve as a foundation for future creative ideas and approaches.

Here is a listing of some current and future plans for initiatives which address many of the concerns and desires expressed in people’s responses. Some of what follows was already in the planning works. Other items are new possibilities based on the survey results.

 

Worship

While a 55% majority of survey respondents suggested that they would attend indoor worship in person with proper precautions, it is clear that we as a nation are entering perhaps the most severe weeks and months of the pandemic to date. In fact, just this week, Metro DC Synod Bishop Leila Ortiz sent to all rostered ministers a pastoral letter strongly recommending that we not worship in person until this most difficult phase of the pandemic has passed. The Reopening Planning Group will continue to meet with regularity to assess where we are and to make recommendations to the Congregation Council.

That said, we have recently begun initiatives that increase our opportunities and diversify our formats for worshipful engagement. These include: the brief outdoor prayer services every two weeks in conjunction with our collection of food donations for those in need; Advent Evening Prayer via Zoom on the four Wednesday evenings in Advent; Bible Study and Lectio Divina groups which include opportunities for fellowship, for devotion and for prayer in addition to study. Beyond Advent and Christmas, Lent and Easter will be coming in the early months of the new year. There will be occasions in those seasons for additional opportunities for worship and devotion. As the weather warms and hopefully the worst of the pandemic will be behind us, God willing, there can be additional occasions for outdoor worship other activities as well if we are not back indoors by then.

Many respondents expressed their desire for Holy Communion. A template for an abbreviated liturgy for Holy Communion has been developed, and we will be in discernment together about how in particular and when we might begin offering the Eucharist again.

Anticipating that time when we might worship indoors even before the pandemic has waned completely, rest assured that the Reopening Planning Group and the Property Committee have in place all supplies and protocols needed for sanitary and safe gatherings. It’s also true that the new year will see the introduction of reportedly effective vaccines. Time will tell about how all of this will play out and how those outcomes will affect decisions to gather again in person or not.

Opportunities to Connect with Each Other and with the Pastor

In addition to connecting with each other during the Zoom Bible Studies and Lectio Divina occasions, the Welcome Committee and I will be hosting weekly Meet and Greet the Pastor via Zoom occasions, beginning in early December. Some of these Zoom events have already occurred, but we are seeking to make them a regular feature of our life together in the coming weeks. Each such occasion will include a few families with me so that we can better get to know one another even when we are not meeting in person.

I’m also intrigued by the possibility of a regularly scheduled Zoom Coffee Hour. I know of some congregations which have undertaken this to good effect.

Additionally, there have been several occasions when members in small groups and I have met on outdoor decks and in backyards for social interaction and getting to know each other. I am very happy to receive such invitations! Don’t be shy.

I also love the idea offered by survey respondents who suggested that members go on walks outdoors with me. Since I am an avid walker and I walk regularly for my physical and mental health, I would be eager for such occasions – but I don’t know who the walkers are in our congregation. Kindly let me know, and we can plan accordingly.

Then there will be additional occasions for outdoor hospitality on the parsonage deck and adjacent yard, and this in season and as safety permits. I am eager to look for such creative opportunities. In fact, I am now in possession of new patio chairs that can accommodate small groups of up to six.

In terms of my outreach to members whom I have not yet had occasion to interact with, this has been something of a challenge to organize. These contacts have been happening, but in an ad hoc manner. As I have become busier with more congregational activities and meetings as your pastor, and as more members are coming to me with prayer requests and pastoral needs, more of my time and energy has been taken up in response to these concerns. That said, starting with the new church year on Advent 1, I will begin to reach out to members on the day of their baptism anniversaries. This approach will help organize my outreach efforts to individual members and comes with a ready-made schedule!

If you know of members who desire to be contacted by the pastor, and I have not yet reached out to them, please let me know. Ministry in caring for each other is a two-way street at its best – especially during this time of pandemic-induced social isolation when we do not benefit from regular gatherings as a community on Sunday mornings where we catch up on each other’s needs.

In terms of additional occasions for me to engage my teaching role as pastor, I am drawn to making presentations (likely via Zoom) on the relationship between church and state from a Lutheran perspective, perhaps also featuring the recent ELCA Social Message, “Government and Civic Engagement in the United States: Discipleship in a Democracy.” I will be in discernment and conversation with our lay leaders and staff members in coming weeks about an appropriate format and time for such teaching presentations.

So, these are the ways in which both current and future, possible initiatives are attempting to respond to the desires expressed in our recent member survey. Perhaps your own reflections upon reading this message may generate still additional good ideas. Kindly don’t hesitate to share them with me!

None of us, neither you nor I, have endured the rigors of a pandemic before and its effects on life together in the church. God in Christ help us in the power of the Holy Spirit to continue to be creative in the ways we can make the most of new opportunities amidst the grave challenges of our day.

With that prayer in Jesus’ name,

Pastor Jonathan Linman

More in this category: « Midweek Message: "Home Worship: A Communal Effort" Midweek Message: "Revisiting the Seasons in Our Life Together" »
back to top