Emmanuel (Hermitage, TN) has had a crazy spring, but God is good and we’re making lemonade out of lemons.
We’re doing a lot of the same things other churches are doing (because of COVID-19) – live streaming our services on YouTube and Facebook. We’re also having Bible study, board meetings, and youth meetings through Zoom.
We’re making phone calls to all members to check on everyone, assess needs, and offer assistance. Information is being sent via snail mail, email, our website, Facebook, and text messages to try to keep everyone abreast of things.
We’re doing something else we hope will be interesting.
As a Generation to Generation church our Midweek Lenten services had a family style worship with kids doing the Scripture readings, followed by the family craft as part of our emphasis on strengthening families.
Our members were in the process of staining crosses and making symbols to put on the cross. Week 1 was the week of the tornado and there was no power at church so we did weeks 1 and 2 together at church on week 2.
Then came COVID-19, so to keep this going, we made “to-go” bags with materials and instructions for the remaining weeks of Lent that families could pick up or have delivered. We put a video with instructions on YouTube for everyone to see how to make the crafts. Members are encouraged to post their pictures with their crosses and symbols on our Facebook page for everyone to see so we can all stay connected.
Week 3 video: https://tinyurl.com/vegfqz6
There’s no video for week 4. There was a written instruction sheet in the to go bags.
Week 5 video https://tinyurl.com/tdhxc9e
There was no craft planned on Ash Wednesday.
— Sarah Baker
