Sep 16, 2021

Friends,

 

I just registered for another online course titled ‘How to be a Hybrid Church,’ offered by the Synod of the Sun to congregations in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana. This is probably the third or fourth course on this subject I have taken in the past 12 months. The description of this particular course is as follows:
The pandemic and resultant quarantine taught congregations that we can worship, study, pray, and gather online. We learned how to stream, Zoom, edit, post; the learning curve was steep.


Today, churches are faced with a new challenge as they consider how to engage a split congregation—at home and online. This moment demands thoughtfulness, intentionality, and collaboration. This course is designed to help you discern what it means for your church to become a “hybrid” church and how to build the bridge between what you’re doing now and what you will do in the future.

 

I never expected to have to learn all of this or be doing any of this when I left my administrative position at Austin Seminary and returned to congregational ministry. When I first followed the call to become your pastor, I anticipated another path. I could not have imagined what would be required of me in order to be faithful to the calling I answered.

 

The first followers of Jesus could never have imagined what would be required of them when they first responded to that invitation to “Follow Me.” Over and over again, though, Jesus told them where the path would lead them. Join me this month in worship (online) as we learn with the disciples what it means to be a follower of Jesus, and how it will change our lives in ways we never imagined.

 

Peace,

 

Pastor Jack