Forced to start a blog

Hello, Internet world! I’ve had ownership of this blog for several months, but haven’t actually started using it. Until now.

COVID-19, or what people call coronavirus (even though there are several kinds of coronavirus) has forced me to change the ways I think about implementing church, specifically worship, in the world. Why? Why is this such a big deal? Well, I’m concerned that our church (meaning the ELCA and synods within the ELCA) aren’t taking the “flatten the curve” part of this outbreak seriously enough. What am I talking about? See this PBS article. And I’m blessed to be networked with a wide variety of pastors all over the globe, and Rev. Ruth Lemmen is a pastor in Beijing, China. She writes of her experience of COVID-19 in China here. I thought it was an important step to take a stand and do what we can to prevent an outbreak like China has had.

With the advisement, blessings, and encouragement of my council, I led worship on Facebook live, with only one other person in the sanctuary, using a Mevo Pro camera. (Thanks to Rev. Elizabeth Grasham for the recommendation!)

Now my kids can officially say I’m a YouTuber, which they still think is so cool, because I have my Facebook live uploaded on YouTube as well. I really think we need to be creative in thinking about how we stay connected to each other while distancing ourselves from one another. Worship online is what we’ve come up with.

Here we are, together, but not. I will do the best I can to continue this blog now that it’s started. Because I have a few things to say and share.

Peace! Rev BLov