Dear Sisters, Brothers, Friends of Margate Moravian,
Hope that you are all doing well, dealing with the challenges of this major health pandemic: coronavirus-COVID19. Prayers continue…..
In light of the latest CDC recommendation that gatherings be restricted to less than 10 persons, we will be using Zoom:
You are all invited to our Weekly Zoom Morning Service @ 9:00am.
Join Zoom Meeting online: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89327118510?pwd=WituMGxpRk5haFZ4c2RvZklsdmxwQT09
or Call: 6468769923 Meeting ID: 893 2711 8510 Password: 393949
God Bless all of You..
We also invite you to participate in services presented online by Prince of Peace Moravian and other Moravian churches.
Prince of Peace @11:00am can be found at the link: princeofpeaceproclaimingtheword and on Prince of Peace Moravian Facebook (Choose Video ‘Live’)
We kindly invite You to Support our Church’s Various Ministries by clicking this Secure Link to Give.
Praise God for Continued Fellowship with All of You as we pass through this valley… assured of Mountain Top Experiences in our Future.
Visit their websites to learn more about how to watch these services. Note that all times are Eastern Standard.
Rolling Hills Moravian — 10:30AM Password: 706252
or call 9292056099 … Pin 934332823# • Calvary Moravian Church — 11:00 AM • Clemmons Moravian Church – 10:30 AM through Facebook • Home Moravian Church – 10:00 AM • Friedberg Moravian Church — 11:00 AM • New Philadelphia Moravian Church — 10:00 AM through Facebook • Trinity Moravian Church –11:00 am EST Moravian Church Without Walls, an online worshipping community, is developing a service that will be shared via Zoom on Sunday, March 15 at 11:00 AM. Clemmons (WTOB 980) and Home (FM 101.5) also broadcast their worship over the radio.
Digital Ministries and Online Gatherings in the Time of Coronavirus Out of an abundance of caution, worshiping communities across the Moravian Church Southern Province are exploring alternative ways to gather in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak, especially where large gatherings have been discouraged or cancelled. While unprecedented and frightening in many ways, this situation also presents a significant opportunity for the church at this moment to be present and to embody the life and vitality of the gospel in our communities. Our neighbors will be needing us, which gives us the opportunity to “take the church Jesus loves closer to the people Jesus loves.” We hope these additional resources will help churches and ministry leaders live faithfully in this moment.
Online Services (Livestreaming, Webcasting, Watching Services on Web) Several Moravian congregations livestream their Sunday morning worship services online and intend to do so for the near future, using essential pastoral and music staff.
Visit their websites for details about how you can listen. Interested in livestreaming? Some churches may consider offering their own Facebook Live worship services featuring their ministry and music staff only. This resource provides some helpful hints for your technologically-savvy volunteers. If Facebook is not your preference, Twitch might provide another simple alternative for livestreaming. Churchstreaming.tv is offering its service free for the next 90 days. Here’s an excellent short video, How to Livestream Your Church Service in 4 Easy Steps, that describes in very simple language how to broadcast some kind of worship material. Worship Video Conferences and Online Meetings Your congregation may also consider intentional, online worship where the online audience is the sole focus. Worship might even follow the same order: the bulletin could be shared on a webpage, through email, or simply in a group chat. Pastors could still share sermons. People could pray together, read liturgies, sing hymns, ask questions, offer reflections, or even discuss questions in breakout rooms of smaller groups. Video conferencing can engage your worship community online in new and powerful ways. Video conferencing platforms that provide this capability include Zoom, Google Hangouts Meet, Cisco Webex Meetings, Microsoft Teams, and others. Zoom is a user-friendly, widelyused platform. The Pro plan ($14.99 per month for one host user) allows up to 100 participants (with free Zoom accounts) in its meetings, with the ability to upgrade that plan for over 100 participants. Research your options as some of these services are now offered free of charge. You can also use these services to have virtual meetings with your board and other church groups and committees. If you’d like to learn more about Zoom worship, this video resource from our Presbyterian brother, Bruce Reyes-Chow, walks you through the process of a Zoom worship experience and provides helpful training on how to lead such an experience. Here you’ll find the posting Rev. Reyes-Chow created to offer information and assistance to his members as they make the transition to a different form of worship. The Board of Cooperative Ministries is ready to assist should you have questions or need assistance with the Zoom video conferencing service.
Other Ideas and Resources • Encourage members to mail their tithes and offerings to the church office or use an online giving service, should that be an option. • Send emails on a daily or weekly basis with your own message referencing the Bible, the Moravian Daily Texts, and/or the Moravian Book of Worship. • Share links to other online resources, such as inspirational devotions like the Upper Room Daily Devotional, Living Compass Lenten Devotions (scroll to bottom of page for daily email signup), The Lent Project, or d365. • Read and reflect on the Weekly Moravian Message that appears on Moravian Church Sunday bulletins, which are also available online each Sunday. • Visit Daily Prayers for Moravians, a weekly prayer liturgy written by Bishop Chris Giesler. • The Interprovincial Board of Communication has posted four liturgies from the Moravian Book of Worship for possible use in alternative worship. These are for use by Moravian congregations and members. Additional resources will be added as we can make them available. • Encourage people to listen to the Moravian Church Without Walls podcast, which provides a daily audio reflection on the Moravian Daily Texts. Moravian Church Without Walls is also developing a worship service that will be shared via Zoom on Sunday, March 15 at 11:00 a.m. EDT. You can join this service here. • Encourage families to subscribe to BCM’s Loving Hearts United weekly family devotional. You’ll be able to find more resources for families (specific to the COVID19 crisis) on BCM’s website soon. • Consider some of the suggestions in this helpful resource from Abingdon Press, which includes information and reflections on the outbreak, and is suitable for an online adult Bible study. Other Help • Interprovincial Board of Communications: Mike Riess ([email protected]) is here to help and as webmaster of Moravian.org, is updating additional COVID-19 information for the church. • Board of Cooperative Ministries: Our staff is available to help you as you consider a variety of options. We’ve also called together a group of technology disciples, who’ll be assisting us as we provide technical assistance to you as you consider alternative worship and online gathering opportunities. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us! We’re working on additional resources right now. o Ruth Cole Burcaw, Executive Director ([email protected]) o Hanna Cheek Jackson, Special Projects Manager/Communications ([email protected]) o Beth Hayes, Director of Congregational Resources & Ministries/The Resource Center ([email protected]) o Heather Stevenson, Operations Coordinator/Administrative Support ([email protected]) o Austin Craver, Technical Production Coordinator ([email protected]) Ecumenical Partners and Organizations Our ecumenical partners and other national organizations are providing a wide variety of resources and links on their websites. Here are a few to peruse for creative ministry ideas: • Western NC Conference United Methodist Church • Western NC Conference UMC on Streaming Worship • Episcopal Diocese of NC Message on COVID-19 • ELCA (Lutheran Church) Resources • PCUSA (Presbyterian Church) Resources • Fresh Expressions (New Kinds of Church): They will be hosting a variety of free webinars in the coming days. • The Lewis Center for Church Leadership • FaithHealthNC • NextChurch – Network of leaders across the PCUSA In this time of pandemic preparedness and response, using different methods of communication provides support and care to our congregations. Worship is largely about connecting to God and to one another. When it comes to connecting with people in meaningful ways, there is no one right solution. Consider both your regular members and attendees as well as neighbors, both geographical and virtual, looking for ways to connect with your church. Online gatherings have the potential to engage people in new ways, and to reach new audiences with God’s word. God is present and working in our gatherings, both physically and virtually. Amen.
