It’s Friday the 10th of July 2020 which means that if you include those that we broadcast on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday this coming Sunday’s Church at Home will be MBC’s nineteenth online Service.
However, as many of you know it’s not just the way we do our Sunday worship that’s changed. Moortots and Oasis have taken to Facebook Live with Shelley Dring presenting twice weekly sessions of song, dance, storytelling and craft. On Sundays Shelley also hosts Family at Moortown, a programme that imaginatively mirrors the themes of Church at Home only this time via its own dedicated YouTube channel.
Those currently leading our Youth work are, as you might expect also making the most of digital technology be getting together through a mix of regular Zoom meetings, WhatsApp catch ups and the like.
Although it’s now more than three months since Carole Smith, her Lunch Club team and their guests were in the same room the caring continues. Hundreds of phone calls have been made, regular newsletters have gone out, most recently a number of sheltered visits have been carefully managed and last week there was even time for some extra special takeaway treats.
Likewise with our expanded in-house Pastoral Team. Available 24/7 to respond to need and to provide support co-coordinator Jane Coates and the group of trained volunteers who work alongside continue to do their very best to ensure that no one feels alone. The MBC website, normally updated two or three times a week is now not only providing a whole raft of Covid related information but as a means of communication has come to resemble a rolling news service as virtual contact has replaced the real thing. Home Groups were one of the first to embrace Zoom, as was Life Worth Living and of course in early June we even had a virtual church meeting.
What follows are four short messages from Carole, Abi, Shelley and Graham in which each of them share some thoughts from lockdown.
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Long distance Lunch Club
On Wednesday 11th March 2020 there was the usual hustle and bustle at Lunch Club as we played some energetic games of adapted table tennis together. There was laughter and competitive spirit with Raymond Newton achieving a rally of over 100 hits seated at a table with his opponent Mike Gray! We enjoyed a delicious lunch together and a quiet game of Bingo afterwards. Little did we know then that it would be our last meeting altogether for some time…
Both our Lunch Club members and the team who support them have responded to the challenges of Covid-19 with gusto. Many of our seniors have drawn on the resilience and wisdom which they have learned through other difficult life experiences. They have done their best to stay connected and keep well and have also reached out to others. Several members asked to be put in touch with those in the group whom they knew were particularly isolated, some have welcomed family for a wave outside their window and others have started a regular local walk or been busy in their gardens.
The Lunch Club Team have made over 450 telephone calls to our 28 members in the last 12 weeks to offer a chance to chat and to provide practical help or signposting to it. We have delivered jigsaws and books, organised food shopping and supported people when they have been feeling low. There have been 5 mail-outs sent to the group as another way of staying in touch and to provide information, articles and activities of interest. Last week our first doorstep visits and cake drop-offs were a welcome surprise for our members!
We now know our seniors a lot better, and we hope that we have enabled the spirit of fun and friendship which is so present each Wednesday at Lunch Club to prevail at a distance… and we thank God for the opportunity to continue to do that and to be part of this community.
Carole Smith – Seniors’ Worker and on behalf of the Lunch Club Team
MBC Youth Programme… Zooming through the crisis
MBC Youth have been meeting regularly throughout lockdown. All of our contact has been virtually, on Zoom, which has made it possible for us to stay in touch even though apart.
The youth team have been running weekly Sunday evening Zoom calls where we have been exploring the same themes and bible passages as Church at Home. This has helped us all to feel connected and part of the whole church.
God has been speaking to us about how Christ is the head of the church, which is the people – not the building! We are all still able to be part of Christ’s church, even when we are physically apart.
We have also been running mid-week groups:
- Tuesday evening (weekly) – Deepening Faith (a discipleship group for those wanting to go deeper and find accountability with others)
- Wednesday evening (monthly) – Topical Discussion (a chance to discuss topical issues raised by the young people)
- Friday evening (monthly) – Social (a chance to hang out with each other and play games)
We have been really encouraged by the engagement from some of our young people and have been able to continue to build and strengthen relationships during this time. As we come towards the end of a what has been a long and difficult term for many of our youth, there is certainly a sense of “Zoom fatigue” and a desire to meet together again in-person.
As we head towards the summer holidays we are discussing as a team what we might be able to offer our young people during the break.
Thank you for your continued support and prayers for our amazing young people and their leaders.
Abi Tilley – on behalf of the Youth Team
Being church in a new era
I write this on a rainy Wednesday after visiting Sainsburys with its screens, face masks and one-way system. It’s a very different picture to the one back on Wednesday 25th March when I filled my car with a load of paint and ribbons, my diary and laptop, postponed Rewind and went home to start the journey I’ve been on for 15 weeks.
Connection seemed to be key. My main thoughts and prayers were around ‘how do we keep being church for all ages in a new era?’ In the news there were pictures of empty churches. But the church hadn’t gone, it had left the building.
Suddenly I was making more phone calls, setting up what’s app groups, texting, emailing, zooming and creating new social media platforms. These included two live under 5’s sessions on Facebook using the Moortots Facebook page. We ‘meet’ every Tuesday and Thursday at 11am online. I am ably supported by my two children and we have an average of 20 live views joining in with songs, crafts, stories and dance. By the end of the day we have over 100 watchers.
Topics have included everything from the Lost Sheep, Thankfulness, Space and the Eurovision Song Contest and we hope it’s an ‘anchor point’, encouragement and safe space to join in God’s story each week. Those who do join us are a mixture of ages and include those who come to MBC regularly, those who attend the toddler groups and new some people who have joined us during lockdown. It’s a great opportunity to reach out. If you haven’t already then do tune in; the songs might bring back some memories! Sessions are available on our new YouTube channel, Family at Moortown.
Sunday school group sessions are also made each week for the YouTube channel. I’m always on the lookout for how God wants to speak to us and how we can empower each other. In these sessions and through Church at Home we’ve seen people move, paint, play, find new paths, exercise, share their treasures, re-enact bible stories and pray creatively each week. Families and those in the children’s teams often post what they have thought/made on a Sunday and it’s great to share it.
I’m supported in all this by our children’s teams, each with a heart for sharing Jesus in an accessible way. They have been praying, messaging, some have kept in touch with families, encouraged each other and joined activities. These have included reading their favourite bible stories (available on the Family at Moortown channel), virtual afternoon teas and a virtual Easter egg hunt.
And the journey continues… As Coldplay sang, “I’d rather be a comma than a full stop”.
So, we look to how we can be a comma in the new season. We all have a part to play in God’s family.
Do get in touch with me if you want to get involved or if you could do with a bit of support yourself.
Shelley Dring, Children and Families Lead
And finally, a word from Graham
So many aspects of our lives have changed significantly over the last few months and MBC is no exception. Covid-19 has re-shaped the way we do church, our regular programme of activities and being able to see the people we are used to meeting up with.
Technology has given us new opportunities – we have Church at Home; live on Facebook and with recorded content on YouTube. At 10.45am each Sunday we have upwards of 100 separate devices watching tuned in both locally and from across the world (in effect that could be as many as three to four hundred people) and as many as three times that number watching regularly on catch up.
During our time together members share videos, messages, sometimes a dramatic unpacking of the service theme with a short talk and prayer. Highlights have been the shared music items all so well run by the tech team: Murray, Sam, Mike, Abi with Tracy and others on hand. We have always aimed to produce accessible content produced by MBC people. In recent weeks the family at Moortown playlist has complemented the same theme for children and families.
Throughout Covid-19 lockdown 12 volunteers from MBC have joined a local volunteer hub run jointly by Leeds City Council and Voluntary Action Leeds. Every week they are providing food shopping and pick-ups of medication. We have highlighted the work of the Christian charity Home for Good encouraging Foster carers in Leeds and offer ongoing prayer and support of NHS and other carer/ key workers.
We have offered prayers and public statement that silence is no longer enough in the face of ongoing racism in society as highlighted by Black Lives Matter.
Alongside the friendships we share in church we have a pastoral care team of 18 volunteers which is set up to offer visits and maintain contact with people. Throughout the lockdown this has been through phone calls but, as the lockdown eases, the team is able to offer ‘safe distance’ visits. The team is coordinated by Jane Coates, with Pastoral Deacon Julia Hyliger and Robert Owen on the core team.
Many of our home groups have continued, so have met by virtual means such as Zoom, Skype or WhatsApp. Others have simply kept in touch by regular phone calls.
Looking forward, we wish to take the best experiences from lockdown as we try to plan for what we may be permitted to do in terms of regular activities or services. We need to ensure that anything we do in the MBC building can be provided and accessed within Covid-19 safe protocols. It is likely the way we do church in future months will be a combination of on-line and smaller in-person meetings or services …watch this space!
Graham Brownlee, co-minister
ALSO AVAILABLE IN PRINT. This article together with Roundabout MBC, a collection of recent stories from our website has been printed out and distributed to a number of people we know who don’t have easy access to the internet.
If you can think of anyone who would appreciate receiving a large print paper copy of any future issues please email their name and address to mbcnewspics@gmail.com