The Need for a Paradigm Shift in Ministry

Dear Church in the Oaks family,

As you know, the world has undergone a dramatic change as a result of the Covid19 pandemic that has required lockdown measures to be in place (ie. everyone in the “non-essential” service sectors of society were compelled to #stayhome #staysafe).

The church was among the so-called non-essential services, so we were thrust into a brave new world that is unchartered territory for many seasoned pastors (read “older” and perhaps slightly outdated here). Many churches had an established way of doing ministry that reflected a more-traditional world, rather than the modern, highly-automated, cyber world we live in today. Admittedly, most churches were not well-equipped for ministry in a digital age, our church included.

As your pastor, please know that I greatly appreciate the support and understanding you have extended to me as I have been doing my best to navigate through the challenge of transitioning to “on-line” ministry. The learning curve has been steep and replete with unique challenges for me as I have had to preach to recording devices (much more artificial and awkward than I could have imagined), rather than directly to people, provide pastoral care remotely (phone calls and/or text messaging), carry out administrative responsibilities (largely via phone, video-conference calls and e-mail strings), and launch new ministries as touch-points such as Mid-Week Musings videos, and Give Me 5 Bible Study over Webex conferencing.

Quite honestly, I did not expect to still be providing pre-recorded services on-line at this juncture, now going into a fourth month, and to still be apart from you physically, which is something I find very difficult personally as I long to be with you and see you and interact with you directly.

With all this in mind, the reason I am writing to you is let you know that after much thought and deliberation and prayer, I, along with the board, have come to accept the pressing need for adjusting ministry to the current realities and future demands.

The truth is, there is a need for a paradigm shift for us at Church in the Oaks. I believe that it is both prudent and wise to embrace the reality that the church in the 21st century is rapidly undergoing a transformation to become increasingly digital (even if it’s not agreeable to us).

As such, this means that we need to properly equip ourselves with the right tools to provide quality digital content and to improve our on-line presence. In other words, the video-messages and other recordings that we produce should not only be available on-line, but should certainly be well done. Further, our web-site does need to be as user-friendly and up-to-date as possible.

In response to these needs, the board has made a decision to invest in to a video-recording system and make some minor improvements to the website. These capital projects will go a long way in helping us provide digital forms of ministry on-line that will be offered concurrent to ministry as a church gathered. Although we prefer ministry to be live, in-person, and in real time, we will provide recorded services for those who are unable or unwilling to attend worship services in the present milieu. And, I might add, we will be well-prepared in the event of a further lockdown (health-care professionals are predicting a second wave of Covid19).

In a recent planning meeting, Ben Hush, who oversees our sound/media ministry, used the term “hybrid” to describe the new paradigm of ministry for the foreseeable future. I like that. The hybrid model will be the church gathered in real time for worship services, offered as well as recorded services on-line (with an option of live-streaming down the road). Once we have an opportunity to figure out all the logistics, I will be sure to pass along the information.

Until then, let it be known that we have indeed begun our journey into a significant paradigm shift that will change church as we know it; church that exists in the physical realm as well as in cyber-space to some extent; a church that will become increasingly digital. Blessings! Pastor Gary